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CITY  OF  NEW  YORK,  ON  TUESDAY,  DECEMBER  10,  1844, 


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EIGHT  REV.  BENJAMIN  T.  ONDERDONK,  D.  D 


BISHOP  OF  NEW  YORK  ; 


ON  A  PRESENTMENT  MADE  BY  THE 


BISHOPS  OP  VIRGINIA,  TENNESSEE,  AND  GEORGIA. 


NEW  YORK: 
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MDCCCXLV. 


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JLAr 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  MINORITY 

/ 

OF 

THE  COURT 
CONVENED  UNDER  THE  THIRD  CANON  OF  1844, 

IN  THE 

CITY  OF  NEW  YORK,  ON  TUESDAY,  DECEMBER  10,  1844, 
FOR 

THE  TRIAL 


RIGHT  REV.  BENJAMIN  T.  0NDERD0NK,  D.  D 

BISHOP  OF  NEW  YORK  J 
ON  A  PRESENTMENT  MADE  BY  THE 

BISHOPS  OF  VIRGINIA,  TENNESSEE,  AND  GEORGIA. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  200  BROADWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA : 
GEORGE  S.  APPLETON,  148  CHESNUT-STREET. 

MDCCCXLV. 


5900 
.0(0 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1845, 
By  d.  APPLETON  &  CO., 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


g  Z^Z 


O  *  '  0 


3 


OPINION  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

.  The  following  opinion,  the  reading  of  which  was,  in  my  view,  most  un- 
justly arrested  and  forbidden  in  the  proper  place,  is  introduced  here. 

The  solemn  question  is  now  submitted  to  my  judgment,  whether  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  Bishop  of  New  York,  is  guilty  or  not 
guilty,  according  to  the  testimony  adduced  in  this  Court,  of  the  allegations 
contained  in  the  Presentment  made  against  him  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  William 
Meade,  the  Rt.  Rev.  James  H.  Otey,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Stephen  Elliott. 
In  forming  my  opinion  on  this  question,  my  only  solicitude  has  been  to  be 
governed  by  the  spirit  and  precepts  of  that  Gospel  by  which  at  last  we 
must  all  be  judged. 

The  first  point,  which  presents  itself  to  my  mind,  relates  to  the  amount 
of  testimony  required  to  sustain  an  allegation  against  an  accused  brother. 
And  here  the  Gospel,  in  my  view,  is  explicit  and  imperative.  Its  direction, 
1  Tim.  v.  19,  is  as  follows : — "  Against  an  elder  receive  not  an  accusa- 
tion, but  before  or  under  two  or  three  witnesses  or,  according  to  the  sense 
of  the  best  authorities,  "  unless  it  be  testified  to  by  at  least  two  or  three 
witnesses."  This  direction,  given  by  the  Holy  Ghost — given  to  a  Bishop — 
given  to  guide  his  judgment  on  charges  preferred  against  an  elder — is 
precisely  applicable  to  the  present  case  ;  in  which  Bishops,  subject  to  the 
authority  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  called  upon  to  give  judgment  in  respect 
to  accusations  brought  against  an  elder  of  the  Church  in  the  highest  sense. 
I  feel  that  I  should  do  violence,  therefore,  to  my  clear  convictions  of  duty, 
were  I  to  attempt,  by  any  means,  to  evade  this  Evangelical  rule ; — a  rule, 
which  the  Church  adopted  in  her  best  and  purest  age,*  and  from  which 
she  has  not  since  felt  herself  at  liberty  to  depart. 

It  is  said,  I  am  aware,  that  this  rule  of  the  Gospel  is  liable  to  conflict 
with  the  rule  of  the  common  law.  Be  it  so.  This  is  not  an  objection  to 
be  addressed  to  the  mind  of  a  Christian  Bishop,  bound  in  his  conscience  to 
act  on  the  irreversible  principles  of  the  law  of  God.  It  is  true,  that,  in 
some  respects,  the  laws  of  our  country,  being  the  laws  of  imperfect  men, 
are  felt  by  the  Church  to  be  at  variance  with  the  spirit  and  requirements 
of  the  divine  law;  and  that  the  decisions  of  temporal  Courts  are  not 
always  in  accordance  with  the  judgment  of  her  tribunals.  It  is  urged,  I 
know,  that  to  require  two  witnesses  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  while  one 
witness  is  admitted  in  the  secular  courts,  might  lead  to  an  acquittal  by  the 
Church,  of  the  man  who  was  pronounced  guilty  by  the  State.  Were  this 
inevitably  the  case,  which  law  is  to  yield,  the  human  or  the  divine  ?  But, 
suppose  the  amount  of  testimony,  required  to  establish  an  allegation,  be 
the  same  in  both  descriptions  of  courts ;  would  this  necessarily  secure  the 
same  decision  in  both  1  Do  not  the  differences  in  men's  perceptions,  and 
judgments,  and  motives,  even  in  the  same  case  and  on  the  same  testimony, 
*  often  lead  to  opposite  results  ?  And  hence,  have  we  not  before  us  constant 
examples,  in  which  one  court  reverses  the  decision  of  another,  or  one  jury 
renders  a  different  verdict  from  another  ?    But  if,  in  the  present  case,  we 

*  See  Apostolic  Canons — 75  Canon. 


4 


are  to  admit,  for  the  above  reason,  the  necessity  of  acting  upon  the  com- 
mon  law  rule  of  evidence  ;  we  should,  for  the  same  reason,  insist  upon  an 
unanimous  verdict ;  as  this  is  required  of  juries  under  such  law.  Besides, 
if  in  this  Court  we  allow,  as  in  our  temporal  courts,  only  one  witness  to  a 
fact,  then  the  lowest  menial,  arraigned  at  the  bar  of  those  courts,  has  an 
important  advantage  over  a  Bishop  here :  inasmuch  as  the  evidence  before  a 
jury  to  obtain  an  unanimous  verdict,  must  necessarily  be  stronger  and  more 
decisive,  than  is  needed  here  where  a  bare  majority  may  condemn.  In 
addition  to  this,  the  accused,  under  the  common  law,  has  the  privilege  of 
challenging  the  members  of  a  jury,  on  the  ground  of  interest  or  prejudice  ; 
while  each  juryman  is  made  to  declare,  under  oath,  that  he  has  not  pre- 
judged the  case,  nor  formed  his  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the 
prisoner.  So  that  in  the  present  trial,  where  there  is  neither  challenge 
nor  oath,  and  where  a  simple  majority  are  to  decide,  the  justice  of  the 
common  law,  even  had  the  Gospel  imposed  no  rule  of  evidence,  would 
seem  to  demand  a  more  than  ordinary  strength  of  testimony.  I  am  obliged, 
however,  by  the  rule  of  the  Gospel  before  laid  down,  to  insist,  in  the  pre- 
sent case,  upon  two  witnesses  to  each  accusation  made  against  the  Re- 
spondent. 

It  may  be  said,  perhaps,  that  if  one  witness  testifies  directly  to  a  fact, 
circumstances  corroborating  this  fact  may  be  adduced  in  the  place  of  the 
second  witness.  Admitting  this  view  to  be  entirely  consistent  with  the  Gos- 
pel rule,  yet  how  does  it  affect  the  testimony  in  this  trial  ?  To  my  mind, 
most  unfavorably ;  as  every  circumstance  attendant  upon  the  alleged  im- 
moralities, goes  to  weaken  the  testimony  adduced  ;  to  show,  not  that  the 
witnesses  actually  perjured  themselves,  but  that,  under  the  influence  of 
imagination  and  prejudice,  and  party  bias,  they  have  made  an  overstatement 
of  the  facts.  Now,  what  are  the  circumstances,  under  which  the  alleged 
misdemeanors  are  said  to  have  been  committed  1  Some  of  these  will  be 
better  exhibited  under  the  specifications,  to  which  they  more  properly  be- 
long. Still,  there  are  certain  circumstances,  which  characterize  every 
case.  (1)  A  Bishop  is  charged  with  immorality  and  impurity,  on  the  tes- 
timony of  a  single  communicant.  And  a  Bishop,  too,  who  had  exhibited 
from  his  boyhood  and  youth,  peculiar  marks  of  piety,  and  freedom  from 
"the  lusts  of  the  flesh;"  and  had  passed  a  ministry  of  thirty  years  or 
more,  in  the  same  city  and  congregation,  without  reproach  or  suspicion.  It 
might  be  demanded,  surely,  that  such  a  Bishop  should  not  be  pronounced 
guilty,  except  upon  the  most  stubborn  and  unquestionable  proof;  that  his 
character  and  solemn  assertion  of  innocence,  should  be  allowed  equal 
weight  with  the  testimony  of  one  respectable  witness.  But  (2)  a  Bishop  is 
charged  with  immorality  at  a  time,  when  he  is  known  to  be  especially 
odious  to  his  accusers  on  the  ground  of  doctrine  ;  and  to  have  gained  a 
signal  triumph  on  this  ground  in  two  successive  Conventions  of  his  Diocese. 
This  circumstance,  to  say  no  more,  ought  not  to  be  without  its  influence  on 
the  mind  of  the  Court  in  its  judgment  of  the  testimony.  Again  (3)  a  Bishop 
is  charged  with  having  committed  immoral  acts  under  circumstances  the 
most  extraordinary — circumstances,  in  every  case,  admitting  of  immediate 
detection — as  having  made  rude  assaults  upon  wives  in  the  presence  of 
husbands,  upon  sisters  within  reach  of  brothers,  upon  parishioners  at 
the  side  of  pastors  !  The  improbability  here  is  enough,  surely,  to  demand 
scrutiny  and  caution  in  respect  to  testimony.  Again  (4)  a  Bishop  is 
charged  on  the  word  of  witnesses,  who  themselves  were  the  alleged  victims 


p 


5 

of  his  lustful  violence,  but  without  any  expression  on  their  part,  at  the  time, 
of  that  virtuous  indignation  which,  upon  the  commonest  principles  of  human 
nature,  might  have  been  looked  for ;  without  exclamation,  or  such  act  of 
resistance  as  would  attract  the  notice  of  persons  in  the  same  carriage  or 
apartment.  Even  could  we  account,  on  the  score  of  peculiar  temperament 
or  embarrassment,  for  the  quiet  submission  under  the  alleged  assaults,  of  a 
single  virtuous  female,  is  it  possible  to  believe  that  four  such  females — the 
number  testifying — should  all,  under  the  circumstances,  have  consented  to 
the  outrage  with  no  more  audible  and  emphatic  expressions  of  resentment, 
than  such  as  appear  in  their  testimony  ?  Again  (5)  a  Bishop  is  charged  by 
witnesses  with  having  grossly  and  violently  assailed  their  virtue,  some  three 
or  four  or  seven  years  ago ;  who,  at  the  time  of  the  insult,  did  not  think  it 
of  a  character  sufficiently  grave  to  demand  exposure  ;  and  whose  hus- 
bands, too,  in  some  cases  presbyters  of  the  Church, — notwithstanding  the 
solemn  vows  of  their  office  conspired  with  the  impulse  of  a  fresh  indig- 
nity, to  prompt  them,  in  the  Church's  name,  if  not  their  own,  to  demand 
satisfaction, — consented  to  pass  over  the  alleged  immorality  in  silence. 
Again  (6)  a  Bishop  is  charged  with  assaults  upon  the  virtue  of  the  wit- 
nesses years  ago  ;  while  it  is  in  proof,  that  many  of  these  witnesses  have 
since  shown  towards  this  Bishop  a  kindness  and  cordiality,  wholly  incom- 
patible with  the  sense  of  wrong  complained  of  in  their  testimony.  Again 
(7)  a  Bishop  is  charged  with  acts  of  "  immorality  and  impurity,"  upon 
proof  known  for  years  to  the  most  aged  and  respectable  presbyters  of  his 
Diocese,  but  without  any  action  or  attempt  on  their  part  to  secure  his  Pre- 
sentment by  the  Diocesan  Convention — the  body,  first  of  all,  intrusted  by 
the  general  Canons  with  this  duty.  These  circumstances,  all  of  which, 
more  or  less,  bear  upon  the  testimony  of  each  witness,  tend,  in  my  view, 
greatly  to  weaken  such  testimony  ;  while  they  demand  of  this  Court  the 
most  charitable  judgment  of  the  Respondent's  acts. 

The  first  article  of  the  Presentment  charges  the  Respondent  with  "  im- 
morality and  impurity"  in  his  conduct  towards  Mrs.  Frances  Livingston 
Butler,  in  the  summer  of  1837.  The  allegation  is  founded  on  the  affidavit 
of  her  husband,  the  Rev.  Clement  M.  Butler.  The  only  witness  to  that 
part  of  the  allegation,  which  could  possibly  imply  "  immorality  or  impu- 
rity," is  the  abovenamed  lady.  Her  testimony  must  be  viewed  under  all 
the  discrediting  circumstances  detailed  in  the  above  seven  particulars  ;  and, 
besides,  as  directly  at  variance  with  the  testimony  of  her  husband  in  the 
gravest  specification  of  his  affidavit — the  specification  known  to  have  pro- 
duced more  prejudice  against  the  accused  than  any  other  contained  in  the 
Presentment ;  viz.  that  the  accused  attempted  to  raise  the  clothes  of  his  wife  ; 
a  thing  which  she,  in  her  testimony,  calls  "  a  little  matter"  and  which  her 
husband,  in  a  letter  explaining  the  discrepancy,  represents  as  of  trifling 
moment.  This,  with  various  minor  contradictions,  which  will  be  readily 
seen  by  a  comparison  of  their  testimony,  leaves  too  little  proof  upon  which 
to  convict  the  Respondent.  In  my  opinion,  therefore,  on  this  first  article, 
he  is  not  guilty. 

The  second  article  charges  him  with  "  immorality  and  impurity,"  in  be- 
ing, on  the  above  occasion,  "  under  the  influence  of,  and  improperly  excited 
by,  vinous  or  spirituous  liquors."  The  indefiniteness  of  this  allegation 
must  necessarily  render  the  proof  indefinite,  and  hence  the  impression  on 
the  mind  of  the  Court  altogether  doubtful.  It  must  be  dismissed,  therefore, 
as  too  vague  in  itself,  and  consequently  as  not  of  necessity  implying  guilt 


6 


in  the  Respondent,  even  were  it  sufficiently  proved.  It  is  my  opinion,  there- 
fore, that  on  this  article  he  is  not  guilty. 

The  third  article,  founded  on  the  affidavit  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hawks,  is 
contradicted  in  every  material  point  by  the  only  witness  (the  Rev.  Mr. 
Bolles)  adduced  for  the  prosecution.  On  this,  therefore,  in  my  opinion,  the 
Respondent  is  not  guilty. 

The  fourth  article  was  dismissed  by  the  Court  for  want  of  proof.  That 
this  failure  was  not  owing  to  want  of  exertion  on  the  part  of  the  Presenters, 
will  be  seen  by  reference  to  their  various  petitions  to  the  Court,  and  to  the 
correspondence  between  the  Commission  and  Miss  Ann  Wilson. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  articles  are  submitted  with  the  single  remark,  that, 
to  my  mind,  the  absurdities  of  the  testimony  are  too  palpable  and  enormous 
for  any  human  belief.  I  shall  not  hesitate  here,  therefore,  to  pronounce  the 
Respondent  not  guilty. 

The  seventh  and  eighth  articles  charge  the  Respondent  with  "  immorality 
and  impurity"  in  his  conduct  towards  Mrs.  Charlotte  Beare,  the  wife  of  the 
Rev.  Henry  M.  Beare,  during  the  summer  of  1842.  This  allegation  rests 
upon  the  testimony  alone  of  this  lady.  She  maybe  pious,  and  incapable  of 
intentional  misrepresentation  ;  still  she  is  shown  to  be  fastidious  and  sensi- 
tive in  the  extreme.  That  which  made  a  strong  impression  on  her  mind, 
in  her  ride  with  the  Bishop  in  the  morning,  seems,  upon  its  being  told  to 
her  husband,  to  have  had  little  effect  upon  him,  but  to  have  been  regarded 
and  treated  as  the  exaggeration  of  an  over-wrought  fancy.  He  urges  the 
Bishop  to  pass  the  night  with  him,  against  a  previous  invitation  to  remain 
at  Mr.  Franklin's  ;  although,  in  going  to  his  house,  the  Bishop  must  ride 
on  the  seat  with  Mrs.  Beare.  And  on  the  way,  too,  his  suspicions  were  so 
little  excited  by  her  complaint  of  the  morning,  that,  according  to  his  testi- 
mony, he  did  not  even  once  look  round  to  note  the  Bishop's  conduct.  And 
then,  when  he  had  arrived  at  home,  and  been  informed  by  his  wife  of  the 
second  assault,  his  composure  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  a  full  belief  of 
the  indignity  alleged.  He  returns  with  her  to  the  parlor,  requests  the  of- 
fending Bishop  to  conduct  the  family  devotions,  and  leaves  him,  with  the 
usual  tokens  of  good  will,  for  the  night.  Morning  comes,  and  they  are  all 
again  seated  quietly  together  at  breakfast.  Soon  after  this,  Mr.  Beare  takes 
the  Bishop  in  his  carriage  to  College  Point*  On  the  way  they  stop  at  Mr. 
Franklin's.  No  coldness  is  here  observed  in  Mr.  Beare's  manner  towards 
the  Bishop  ;  and,  indeed,  no  word  of  complaint  or  remonstrance  is  spoken, 
although  they  were  alone  during  that  morning's  ride.  Neither  is  there  a 
word  spoken  respecting  this  matter,  to  any  of  the  brethren  at  the  Point. 
The  Bishop  is  suffered  to  go  on  his  way  ;  and  days  elapse,  before  the  mat- 
ter becomes  sufficiently  important  to  require  notice.  In  all  this,  there  is, 
to  my  mind,  a  manifest  want  of  confidence  at  first,  on  the  part  of  the  hus- 
band, in  the  correctness  of  the  apprehensions  of  the  wife.  Something  he 
believed  ;  but  it  required  time  and  frequent  repetitions  of  the  story,  to  fix 
in  his  mind  a  full  belief  of  all  that  she  has  here  testified.  The  excited  state 
of  Mrs.  Beare,  and  the  manifest  incredulity  of  her  husband,  at  least  for  a 
time,  are  enough  to  cast  suspicion  upon  the  testimony ;  to  produce  in  the 
mind  of  the  judge  a  fear,  if  not  a  conviction,  that  imagination  has  been 
mistaken  for  fact.  Besides  this,  the  subsequent  conduct  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Beare  towards  the  Bishop  greatly  increases  the  difficulty,  especially  when 
we  consider  that  the  cordiality  and  friendliness  of  that  conduct,  although 
testified  to  by  four  or  five  most  credible  witnesses,  is  wholly  forgotten  by 


7 


themselves.  They  profess  to  have  no  recollection  of  having  urged  the 
Bishop,  on  his  next  visitation,  to  dine  with  them,  notwithstanding  his  en- 
gagement at  Mrs.  Franklin's ;  while  the  Rev.  Dr.  Schroeder  and  Mrs. 
Franklin  testify  directly  to  the  fact.  Viewing  Mrs.  Beare's  testimony, 
standing  as  it  does  alone,  under  the  light  which  it  thus  reflects  upon  itself, 
I  cannot  regard  it  as  conclusive  or  satisfactory. 

It  is  pleaded,  I  know,  that  what  is  called  the  confession  of  the  Bishop  to 
the  Rev.  Drs.  Milnor,  Muhlenberg,  and  Higbee,  supplies  a  second  witness. 
It  cannot  be  denied,  that  if  the  Bishop  confessed  the  truth  of  the  facts  al- 
leged in  this  case,  it  is  sufficiently  established.  But  here  the  testimony 
is  confused,  and  somewhat  conflicting.  It  seems  that  these  gentlemen  all 
agree  in  the  fact,  that  at  their  first  interview  with  the  Bishop  he  denied 
these  facts,  or  such  of  them  as  involved  impurity  ;  and  denied  them  with 
apparent  indignation.  They  also  agree,  that  at  the  second  interview  the 
Bishop  appeared  to  be  much  affected,  and  endeavored  to  soothe  Mr.  Beare  ; 
assuring  him  of  his  high  regard,  and  that  he  did  not  question  the  veracity 
of  his  wife.  Now  to  my  mind,  this  last  declaration,  coupled  with  the  deport- 
ment of  the  Bishop  at  the  second  interview,  is  not  only  perfectly  reconcila- 
ble with  his  deportment  and  denial  at  the  first  interview,  but  also  is 
obliged  to  be  reconciled  with  them,  if  we  admit,  as  we  do,  the  truth  of  the 
testimony  of  Dr.  Milnor.  In  the  first  place,  the  indignant  denial  of  the 
first  interview  may  be  reconciled  with  the  ready  admission  of  the  second. 
The  denial  was  made  in  respect  to  actions  alleged  by  a  lady  to  be  impure, 
and  made  under  a  sense  of  injustice.  The  admission  was  made,  not  to  the 
lady  bringing  the  allegation,  but  to  her  husband ;  between  whom  and  the 
Bishop  there  subsisted  the  most  affectionate  confidence.  When,  therefore, 
at  the  second  interview  the  Bishop  addressed  Mr.  Beare,  he  addressed  an 
intimate  friend,  for  whom  he  felt  the  warmest  interest,  and  whom  he  re- 
garded as  being  under  a  misapprehension  in  respect  to  himself.  What  con- 
duct then  more  natural,  than  that  of  the  Bishop  towards  his  young  friend  ? 
The  change  of  circumstances  demanded  in  the  Bishop  a  change  of  deport- 
ment. And  when  he  replied  to  the  inquiry  of  Mr.  Beare,  "  Do  you  question 
the  word  or  veracity  of  my  wife  ?"  "  No,  I  do  not  question  her  veracity  ;  but 
you  know  how  easily  in  some  minds  innocent  things  may  be  magnified  into 
faults," — I  see  in  this  no  necessary  contradiction  of  what  he  had  affirmed  the 
previous  day.  But,  in  the  second  place,  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Milnor,  as  to 
his  admonition  of  the  Bishop,  is  absolutely  irreconcilable  with  the  idea  of  the 
Bishop's  having  admitted  on  the  second  day,  what  he  had  denied  on  the  first. 
Let  us  examine.  On  the  supposition  that  the  Bishop  admitted  on  the  second 
interview  the  allegations  of  Mrs.  Beare,  which  he  denied  on  the  first,  Dr. 
Milnor,  at  the  conclusion  of  these  interviews,  must  have  approached  the 
Bishop,  and,  with  the  conviction  burdening  his  mind  that  the  Bishop  had 
been  guilty,  by  his  own  confession,  not  only  of  gross  impurity,  but  also  of 
direct  and  palpable  falsehood,  addressed  him  in  the  following  language:  (I 
give  his  own  words,)  "  I  hope,  Bishop,  that  what  has  occurred  in  this  in- 
stance will  put  you  on  your  guard  in  future — particularly  as  I  have  heard 
other  rumors  of  a  similar  kind."  Now,  is  this  the  language  of  admonition, 
which  a  grave  and  holy  presbyter,  laboring  under  the  above  supposed  con- 
viction of  his  Bishop's  impurity  and  falsehood,  would  have  employed  ? 
Even  making  all  due  allowance  for  his  respect  for  the  Episcopal  office, 
still,  I  ask,  could  the  Rev.  Dr.  Milnor,  in  thus  solemnly  using  his  rightful 
prerogative,  employ  words,  which,  on  the  above  supposition,  must  have  en- 


8 


tirely  defeated  his  own  purpose,  and  confirmed  the  Bishop  in  self-delusion  ? 
But  the  Bishop  replies  to  the  Doctor.  Is  the  reply  such  as  we  should  have 
looked  for  from  one  who  had  just  confessed  his  guilt  ?  "  In  regard  to  ru- 
mors of  this  kind,  Doctor,  about  clergymen,  there  are  few  who  have  not  at 
some  time  had  occasion  to  encounter  them."  Now,  if  Dr.  Milnor  had  un- 
derstood the  Bishop  as  having  confessed  his  guilt,  would  he  not  have  re- 
plied to  this  in  somewhat  such  language  as  the  following  :  "  This  may, 
perhaps,  be  a  sufficient  answer  in  regard  to  unsubstantiated  rumors  ;  but  as 
you  have  confessed  the  truth  of  Mrs.  Beare's  statements,  I  do  not  see  how  it 
can  apply  here."  Instead,  however,  of  such  a  course  of  remark,  the  Doc- 
tor simply  rejoins  to  this  effect :  "  Why,  Bishop,  I  have  been  a  clergyman 
in  this  city  for  some  thirty  years,  and  I  am  not  aware  that  any  such  rumors 
have  been  in  circulation  about  myself."  Immediately  upon  this  the  rever- 
end presbyters  leave  the  Bishop's  presence.  But  what  course  do  they  adopt 
concerning  what  had  passed  ?  Do  they  act  like  presbyters  convinced  of 
their  Bishop's  guilt  ?  It  is  true,  one  of  them  expresses  his  disappointment 
at  the  result  of  the  interview,  in  very  strong  terms.  What,  however,  is 
their  united  action  ?  For  this  must  be  regarded  as  the  true  exponent  of  their 
settled  conviction  about  the  matter.  They  agree  to  drop  it,  and  never  again 
to  mention  it.  Here  their  testimony  concurs.  We  are  bound,  therefore,  in 
charity  to  themselves  to  infer,  that  they  considered  the  Bishop  as  having 
made  no  confession  of  guilt,  and  as  having  done  nothing  which  really  called 
for  the  discipline  of  the  Church. 

On  this  last  specification,  therefore,  my  opinion  is,  that  the  Respondent 
is  not  guilty. 

It  is  said,  I  am  aware,  that  the  allegations,  all  having  respect  to  the  same 
kind  of  acts,  strengthen  each  other.  This  may  be  true,  when  we  come  to 
consider  the  motive  or  habit  of  mind  of  the  actor ;  but  not  in  determining 
the  fact  of  his  having  acted  as  alleged.  The  rules  of  evidence  under  the 
common  law  require,  that  each  fact  alleged  must  be  proved,  as  if  it  were 
the  only  one.  But,  in  assigning  motive  or  character  to  an  action,  we  may 
safely  inquire  into  the  frequency  and  the  circumstances  of  its  commission. 
For  example  :  A  prisoner,  arraigned  for  murder  on  a  number  of  indict- 
ments, must  be  tried  on  each,  as  if  it  stood  alone.  And,  in  case  the  evi- 
dence on  each  should  be  found  insufficient,  no  jury  would  for  one  moment 
think  of  allowing  their  number  to  operate  in  supplying  this  deficiency  of 
proof.  But  if  a  prisoner,  already  convicted  of  manslaughter,  should  be 
arraigned  for  murder  j  and  the  question  was,  whether  the  act  proved  had 
been  committed  with  malicious  intent  to  kill,  then  it  might  be  lawful  in 
settling  this  question  to  have  respect  to  his  disposition  and  character,  as 
developed  on  former  trials.  The  case  before  us,  however,  involves  simply 
a  question  of  fact :  Is  the  Respondent  guilty  or  not  guilty  of  the  immoral 
acts,  as  severally  specified  in  the  Presentment  ?  Each  act,  therefore,  must 
upon  every  rule  of  evidence  be  proved,  as  if  it  were  the  only  one  charged. 
And,  as  each  act,  in  my  opinion,  has  not  been  proved,  I  consider  the 
Respondent  not  guilty  under  the  Presentment. 

L.  SILLIMAN  IVES, 

Bishop  of  North  Carolina. 


i 


9 


Adjudication  of  Sentence  in  the  Case  of  the  Presentment  against  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  New  York, 
by  the  Bishop  of  North  Carolina. 

[The  Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  in  submitting  the  following  considerations  for 
the  mildest  sentence  upon  the  Respondent,  does  it  with  the  distinct  avowal  that, 
in  his  judgment,  these  considerations  should  have  secured  the  Respondent's  ac- 
quittal; and  that  nothing  but  the  provisions  of  the  Canon,  and  duty  to  the  accused, 
could  have  moved  him  to  concur  in  any  sentence.] 

In  consideration, 

1.  Of  the  long,  faithful,  and  irreproachable  ministerial  life  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  convicted  by  a  majority  of  this  Court  of 
certain  allegations  of  immorality  ; 

2.  Of  the  character  of  these  allegations,  viewed  in  connection  with  the 
naturally  free  and  paternal  manner  of  the  said  Bishop ; 

3.  Of  the  staleness  of  the  acts  alleged  in  the  Presentment  against  him, 
and  of  which  he  stands  convicted  ; 

4.  Of  the  peculiar  and  remarkable  circumstances  under  which  these 
acts  are  alleged  to  have  been  committed  ; 

5.  Of  the  fact  that  these  acts  were  not  considered  at  the  time  by  the 
offended  parties  as  of  sufficient  consequence  in  themselves  to  call  for  inves- 
tigation ; 

6.  Of  the  still  more  extraordinary  fact,  that  after  the  things  charged  had 
come  to  the  knowledge,  and,  in  one  case,  actually  been  made  the  ground  of 
the  solemn  and  deliberate  action,  of  three  or  four  of  the  most  distinguished 
presbyters  of  this  Diocese  ;  they  were  dismissed,  or  by  common  under- 
standing and  agreement  dropped  as  not  calling  for  further  notice ; 

7.  Of  the  not  less  singular  circumstance,  that  although  the  improprieties 
alleged  had,  for  some  years,  been  known  ;  and  the  first  and  highest  author- 
ity for  presentment  had,  by  Canon  of  the  General  Convention,  been  lodged 
in  the  Diocesan  Convention ;  yet  that  no  member,  either  clerical  or  lay,  of 
the  Diocese  of  the  said  Bishop  has,  according  to  the  plea  set  up,  made  the 
smallest  effort  for  his  presentment ; 

8.  Of  the  aggravating  circumstance,  that  the  said  Bishop  has  for  years 
been  suffering  under  the  imputation  of  the  gravest  charge  sworn  to  by  a 
presbyter  of  the  Church  ;  but  actually  withdrawn  from  the  Presentment, 
as  unfounded,  and  sworn  to  be  false  by  one  of  the  witnesses  ;  and, 

9.  Of  the  gratifying  fact — gratifying  I  doubt  not  to  every  member  of  the 
Court — that  the  said  Bishop  of  New  York,  whatever  may  have  been  his 
previous  habit  of  mind,  has  for  nearly  three  years  last  past,  and  since  the 
caution  he  received  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Milnor,  given  the  best  proof  in  an 
irreproachable  life  that  that  habit  has  been  overcome ;  and  that  he  is  now 
successfully  and  valiantly  leading  the  hosts  of  God  against  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil : — 

In  consideration  of  these  things,  and  still  adhering  to  the  conviction  de- 
clared in  my  opinion,  that  the  Respondent  is  not  guilty  ; 

I,  Levi  Silliman  Ives,  Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  adjudge  to  the  said 
Rt.  Rev.  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk,  Bishop  of  New  York,  the 
smallest  degree  of  admonition  which  the  Canon,  under  which  we  pass  sen- 
tence, will  admit. 

2 


f 


10 


OPINION  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 


DECLARATION  OF  OPINION 

IN  THE 

COURT  OF  BISHOPS, 

ASSEMBLED  FOR  THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  RT.  REV.  BENJAMIN  T.  ONDERDONK,  D.  D.,  BISHOP 

OF  NEW  YORK  ; 

Prepared,  and  intended  but  not  permitted  to  be  read,  before  the  decision  of  the 
question,  "  guilty,"  or  "  not  guilty  V' 

I  am  called  on  to  declare  whether,  in  my  opinion,  the  Respondent  in  this 
case  is  "  guilty"  or  not  "  guilty"  of  immorality  and  impurity,  in  the  following 
article  of  the  Presentment,  which  has  just  been  read,  viz.,  "  That  the  said 
Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  on  or  about  the  first  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1837,  being  then  Bishop  of  the  said  Church  in  the  Diocese  of 
New  York,  was  engaged  in  a  tour  of  official  duty,  and  was  proceeding  to 
the  town  of  Syracuse,  in  Onondaga  county,  in  said  Diocese  of  New  York, 
for  the  purpose,  among  other  matters,  of  ordaining  the  Rev.  Clement  M. 
Butler  to  the  Priesthood  ;  that  on  his  way  to,  and  near,  the  said  town  of  Syra- 
cuse, the  said  Clement  M.  Butler,  together  with  his  wife,  met  him  in  a 
carriage,  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  him,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onder- 
donk, to  the  said  town ;  that  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  entered  the 
said  carriage,  and  took  his  seat  on  the  back  seat  thereof  by  the  side  of  the 
said  lady ;  that  they  two  alone  occupied  that  seat,  the  said  Clement  M. 
Butler  and  a  person  driving  occupying  the  front  seat ;  that  thereupon,  after- 
wards, the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  impurely  and  unchastely  put  his 
arm  around  the  body  of  the  said  lady,  and  in  an  improper  and  unbecoming 
manner  pressed  the  said  lady  towards  him  ;  that  the  said  lady  endeavored 
to  repress  the  said  familiarities,  and  to  bring  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  to 
a  just  sense  of  his  duty  in  that  behalf ;  that  the  night  came  on  before  the  said 
parties  reached  the  end  of  their  journey,  and  that  after  it  became  dark,  the 
said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  renewed  his  said  improper  conduct,  and  im- 
purely and  unchastely  did  pass  his  hand  down  and  along  the  person  and 
legs  of  the  said  lady,  and  did  otherwise  behave  towards  her  in  so  rude  and 
indecent  a  manner,  that  she,  the  said  wife  of  the  said  Clement  M.  Butler, 
was  obliged  to  claim  the  protection  of  her  husband,  and  thereupon  she  left 
her  seat  in  the  said  carriage,  and  rode  upon  the  front  seat  thereof  for  the 
rest  of  the  journey,  in  doing  which  she  was  obliged  to  sit  upon  her  husband's 
lap  ;  and  that  owing  to,  and  in  consequence  of,  the  said  conduct  of  the  said 
Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  the  said  lady  became  seriously  sick,  and  her 
health  was  so  much  affected  as  permanently  to  injure  her  constitution. 
All  which  said  actings  on  the  part  of  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  the 
said  Bishops  presenting  do  charge  as  being  in  violation  of  his  duty  as  Bishop, 
and  contrary  to  his  consecration  vow  in  that  behalf,  and  to  the  great  scan- 
dal of  the  Church  of  Christ." 


11 


I  feel  that  the  "opinion"  I  am  thus  called  to  give,  is  the  most  important  I 
have  ever  given ;  and  I  must  be  allowed  to  enter  at  some  length  into  the 
grounds  on  which  I  give  it.  It  is  a  most  extraordinary  case.  It  is  as  im- 
portant as  it  is  extraordinary. 

The  Respondent  stands  before  us  in  his  native  place.  For  more  than 
fifty  years  he  has  resided  in  this  city;  the  scene  of  his  education,  and  the 
chief  seat  of  his  labors,  as  it  is  the  home  of  his  birth.  His  childhood  and 
his  youth  were  singular  in  purity  and  piety.  For  almost  three  and  thirty 
years  he  has  exercised  the  ministry  of  Christ.  For  twenty  years  he  was 
connected  with  the  largest  parish  in  our  whole  communion;  assiduous  in 
all  the  duties,  exemplary  in  all  the  relations  of  his  office.  A  most  devoted 
pastor ;  faithful  and  capable,  quite  to  a  proverb,  in  what  is  called  "  the  bu- 
siness of  the  Church,"  diocesan  and  general ;  the  kind,  and  careful,  and 
laborious  teacher  of  young  men  in  preparation  for  the  ministry  ;  directing 
in  their  theological  training  a  multitude  of  our  most  useful  ministers,  and 
several  of  the  Bishops.  From  his  earliest  connection  with  the  ministry,  he 
enjoyed  the  fullest  confidence  of  that  most  singular  discerner  of  the  charac- 
ters of  men,  the  honored  Hobart  ;  and  from  the  nearest  place  to  him,  as 
counsellor  and  fellow-helper  in  the  cares  and  labors  of  his  office,  was 
called  to  be  his  successor  in  the  apostleship.  Before  his  elevation  to  that 
office,  and  for  some  years  afterwards,  it  may  be  said,  without  the  fear  of 
contradiction,  that  never  any  word  was  heard  to  call  in  question  his  minis- 
terial, his  religious,  or  his  moral  character ;  while  no  man  can  be  found  to 
say,  that  he  has  ever  seen  a  more  entire  and  unreserved  devotion  of  soul 
and  body  to  the  Church.  Of  his  administration  of  the  Diocese  of  New 
York,  before  and  after  its  division,  the  record  is  before  us  all,  in  the  contin- 
ual, unexampled  increase  and  prosperity  which  God  has  granted  to  the 
prayers  and  labors  of  His  servant.  A  blessing  much  enhanced,  and  rendered 
more  significant  by  this,  that  in  two  successive  Conventions  of  the  Diocese, 
the  last  which  have  been  held,  when  his  Church  principles,  and  his  policy 
as  Bishop,  were  made  the  subject  of  the  freest  discussion,  and  most  direct 
and  vigorous  opposition,  he  was  sustained  by  overwhelming  majorities  in 
both  of  the  two  orders :  and  not  a  man  among  two  hundred  clergymen,  or 
among  the  lay  representatives  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  congregations, 
to  hint  at  the  preferment  of  a  single  charge  against  him.  That  three  short 
months  should  have  produced  a  change  so  great  and  so  disastrous  in  the  po- 
sition of  the  Respondent,  is  among  the  aspects  of  the  case  which  make  it 
extraordinary,  to  the  very  borders  of  romance.  Is  it  not  extraordinary,  and 
well  nigh  without  example,  that  such  a  childhood,  such  a  youth,  and  such 
a  manhood,  should  justly  lead  to  such  a  posture  in  old  age  ?  Is  it  not  extraor- 
dinary that,  if  there  be  just  grounds,  and  were,  and  they  notorious  (as  it  is 
said)  as  long  ago  as  1838,  that  in  neither  of  these  two  Conventions, — I  do  not 
say  the  canonical  minority  in  the  two  orders ;  I  do  not  say  an  aggregate 
majority  of  the  whole  body  ;  I  do  not  even  say  a  responsible  though  small 
minority ; — but  I  do  say,  one  single  man  of  clergymen  or  laymen,  could  be 
found  to  move  for  an  investigation,  in  redemption  of  the  honor  of  the  Church  ? 
This  surely  is  a  case  most  extraordinary.  And  as  important  as  it  is 
extraordinary.  I  do  not  mean,  immense  as  that  must  be,  in  its  bearings  on 
the  Respondent  and  his  Diocese  alone.  I  mean  as  it  affects,  and  must 
affect,  for  ever,  our  whole  Church  ;  its  mutual  intercourse,  its  present  in- 
terests, its  future  influence,  its  history,  its  name,  and  fame.  It  is  the  first 
carrying  out  of  the  canonical  provision  for  the  trial  of  a  Bishop.  The 


12 


weight  and  value  of  the  Church's  discipline  hereafter,  m  all  its  branches, 
and  in  all  its  bearings,  will  much  depend  on  the  decision  of  this  case  :  that, 
as  we  promised  at  our  consecration  that  we  would  be,  so  we  now  approve 
ourselves  to  be,  "  so  merciful  that  we  be  not  too  remiss  ;  so  minister  dis- 
cipline that  we  forget  not  mercy." 

Is  the  Respondent  "  guilty  or  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,"  as 
stated  in  the  "  article"  now  before  us  1  To  say  that  he  is  guilty  of  present 
"  immorality  and  impurity"  by  reason  of  an  act  committed,  if  committed 
more  than  seven  years  ago,  is  obviously  absurd.  "  Immorality,"  in  John- 
son's definition  of  it,  is  "  want  of  virtue — contrariety  to  virtue."  "  Impu- 
rity" is  a  quality  or  habit  of  the  mind  or  heart.  To  hold  that  he  who  ever 
has  been  tainted  by  the  passage  of  an  impure  thought,  is  guilty  of  it  now, 
would  be  to  shut  us  all  out  from  the  sight  of  God.  Needful  for  all  of  us  that 
prayer  of  David,  in  his  penitence,  "  Oh,  remember  not  the  sins  and  offences 
of  my  youth  !"  It  never  can  be  held  that  if  this  charge  were  proved  to 
the  full,  it  would  establish  "  immorality  and  impurity,"  at  present.  I  make 
this  remark  once  for  all,  as  applying,  in  proportion  to  its  date,  to  every 
charge  in  the  Presentment :  and  I  put  it  to  the  heart  of  every.  Bishop  to 
say  now,  whether,  if  all  of  them  should  be  established,  he  could  sustain, 
against  the  admitted  silence  of  two  years  and  a  half,  the  expression  of  the 
Presentment,  "  being  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity ;"  that  is  to  say, 
now  addicted  to  immoral  or  impure  habits. 

But  is  the  charge,  as  it  now  stands,  established  ?  In  setting  forth  a 
charge  so  old  in  date,  the  Presentment  lays  itself  under  severe  responsibili  - 
ties, as  to  the  nature  of  the  evidence  required  for  its  establishment.  The 
rule  is  granted  on  all  hands,  as  founded,  not  on  any  law,  but  on  the  just 
allowance  for  infirmity  of  men,  in  failure  of  memory,  in  the  death  or  ab- 
sence of  material  witnesses,  in  bar  of  frivolous,  vexatious,  or  vindictive 
prosecutions,  that,  in  such  cases,  the  clearest  proof  shall  be  required  for 
every  allegation,  while  general  explanations  are  to  be  allowed  in  the  de- 
fence. This  is  the  voice  of  human  nature,  older  than  all  statutes,  and  more 
authoritative  than  any.  It  is  incorporated  in  every  statute  book.  It  is 
adopted,  without  statute,  in  the  courts  of  equity.  It  is  of  obvious  and  uni- 
versal obligation.  It  especially  applies,  in  the  latter  portion  of  it,  that 
general  explanations  are  to  be  allowed  in  the  defence,  to  cases  such  as  this, 
where  the  immoral  acts  alleged  are  of  a  nature  seldom  susceptible  of  a 
direct  rebuttal.  The  Presentment,  in  taking  in  matters  of  allegation  so  re- 
mote in  time,  is  to  be  held,  therefore,  to  the  adduction  of  the  clearest  and 
the  most  abundant  proof. 

Is  the  specification  of  ".  immorality  and  impurity,"  as  it  stands  in  arti- 
cle I.  of  the  Presentment,  so  sustained  ?  It  is  "  an  accusation  against  an 
elder."  It  is  an  accusation  made  in  a  Church  Court.  It  is  held,  therefore, 
in  strictest  terms,  to  the  Church  rule.  Now,  what  is  that  ?  Where  shall 
we  look  for  it  ?  To  holy  Scripture,  first.  If  God  has  spoken,  man  must  not 
object  or  qualify.  I  turn  then  to  the  three  Epistles,  which  have  been  always 
held  as  the  inspired  directory  of  order  and  of  discipline  for  the  whole  Church, 
in  every  age.  I  find  the  apostle  Paul,  writing  by  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  giving  express  directions  to  the  first  Ephesian  Bishop,  (1  Tim.  v.  19,) 
"  Against  an  elder  receive  not  an  accusation  but  before  two  or  three  witness- 
es ;"  clearly  intending,  as  the  original,  and  all  received  expositors  will  show,* 

*  I  invite  particular  attention  to  the  authorities  which  follow.  I  begin  with 
Poole,  who,  in  his  exposition  of  this  text,  condenses  and  combines  the  critical 


13 


on  the  authority  of"  two  or  three  witnesses."  I  go  not  back  for  any  confirm- 
ation of  this  rule  to  the  Old  Testament.  It  needs  no  confirmation.  The 
apostle  had  the  mind  of  Christ.  What  he  enjoins  is  to  us  an  injunction 
from  the  Lord  our  God.  We  are  not  to  object  to  it  from  any  consideration 
of  consequences.  We  are  not  to  qualify  it  by  any  consideration  of  conve- 
nience.   It  is,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord."    He  saith  it  who  knows  all  possible 


authority  of  Erasmus,  Beza,  Scultetus,  Tremellius,  Molinaeus,  Illyricus,  Pag- 
ninus,  Castalio,  Vorstius,  Piscator,  Danaeus,  Pricaeus,  Hammond,  and  Grotius, 
relying  chiefly  on  the  last.  "  Against  an  elder,"  (either,  1,  in  age  ;  or  more  prop- 
erly, 2,  in  honor  or  dignity,  as  the  context  shows,)  "  receive  not  an  accusation" 
(or  ecclesiastical  charge,)  "  except  wider  two,"  &c.  [In  the  original,  he  says  (lit- 
erally, unless,  if  not)  there  is  a  pleonasm,  or  double  negation  ;  which,  in  Greek,  as 
scholars  know,  makes  the  denial  more  intense.]  A  ruler  seems  to  be  instructed 
here,  called  by  eminence,  an  overseer,  or  Bishop.  For  it  belonged  to  such  to 
regulate  the  conduct  of  elders.  Timothy,  at  that  time,  presided  over  the  elders 
at  Ephesus.  It  may  be  asked,  What  need  of  this  new  rule  concerning  elders, 
when  of  every  accusation  it  is  written,  as  in  Deuteronomy  xvii.  6,  "  At  the  mouth 
of  two  witnesses,  or  three  witnesses,"  &c.  ?  From  this  consideration  some  have 
thought  the  text  should  be  erased,  as  being  superfluous.  But  the  bringing  of  an 
accusation  is  one  thing,  and  the  trial  of  the  accused,  whether  the  sentence  of  the 
judge  acquit  him,  or  condemn  him,  is  another.  By  the  law  of  Moses,  no  one 
could  be  condemned  for  any  crime,  but  on  the  testimony  of  at  least  two  witnesses. 
["  One  witness  shall  not  rise  up  against  a  man  for  any  iniquity,  or  for  any  sin,  in 
any  sin  that  he  sinneth  :  at  the  mouth  of  two  witnesses,  or  at  the  mouth  of  three 
witnesses,  shall  the  matter  be  established."  Deut.  xix.  15.]  One  of  the  com- 
mon people,  however,  might  be  arrested,  and  an  investigation  of  his  case  com- 
menced, on  the  testimony  of  one  witness,  not  being  an  infamous  person.  It  was 
not  so,  however,  with  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim,  to  whom  an  elder  is  here  made 
equal.  In  Jewish  proceedings  at  law,  there  were  these  three  stages.  The  ad- 
mission of  the  charge,  when  the  judge  does  not  dismiss  the  complaint ;  its  con- 
firmation, by  the  oath  of  the  complainant ;  and  its  trial,  when  the  proofs  and 
arguments  on  either  side  are  brought.  Observe,  the  apostle  does  not  say  con- 
demn not ;  but  receive  not  an  accusation,  (except  on  the  authority  of  two  or  three 
witnesses.)  Repel  informers.  And  why  so"?  1.  By  reason  of  his  weight  of 
character,  and  of  the  importance  and  dignity  of  his  office.  He  is  not  to  be  dis- 
credited, therefore,  without  great  cause  ;  for  his  discredit  is  joined  with  the  scan- 
dal of  the  whole  Church.  It  concerns  the  whole  Church,  therefore,  that  his  repu 
tation  be  not  easily  impaired.  2.  Because  the  judgment  of  the  whole  people  in  his 
behalf,  at  his  election,  readily  outweighs  a  single  witness.  3.  Because  the  people 
are  severe  towards  those  that  are  set  over  them,  and  feed  them,  and  habitually 
exaggerate  their  failings.  For  such  is  the  malignant  temper  of  the  human  mind, 
that  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  reprove  the  faults  of  others,  are  much  exposed  to 
their  ill-will.  In  the  case  of  old  men,  there  is  this  farther  consideration,  that  evil 
should  not  lightly  be  believed  of  one  advanced  in  years,  whose  past  life  is  his 
protection,  and  his  very  name  a  mark  of  dignity.    In  loco. 

Hammond,  discussing,  in  his  full  and  learned  way,  the  three  gradations  in  a 
Jewish  suit  at  law,  concludes  as  follows :  "  The  first  of  these  only  it  is  that  be 
longs  to  this  place,  the  admission  of  the  complaint,  or  accusation,  which,  against 
a  presbyter,  or  governor,  of  the  Church,  is  not  allowed  under  two  or  three  wit- 
nesses, in  respect  of  the  gravity  of  his  person,  and  weight  of  his  office  or  calling, 
who  must  not  be  defamed,  (as  the  being  brought  into  the  Court  is  a  kind  of  defa- 
mation,) if  there  be  not  great  cause  for  it."    In  loco. 

Whitby,  first  rendering  the  text,  "  Against  an  elder  receive  not  an  accusation 
but  upon  the  testimony  of  two  or  three  witnesses,"  proceeds  to  say  :  "  Whereas 
the  law  had  taken  care  that  no  man  should  be  condemned,  but  by  the  mouth  of  two 
or  three  witnesses,  the  Apostle,  knowing  how  much  the  Church  would  suffer  by  the 
rash  accusation  of  her  governors,  bishops,  and  presbyters,  seems  to  rise  higher, 


14 


results,  and  never  is  unmindful,  in  one  commandment  or  one  ordinance,  of 
the  infirmities  of  his  poor  human  creatures.  I  take  the  apostolical  injunc- 
tion, therefore,  as  it  stands,  and  I  apply  it  literally.  It  is  not  true 
that  he  intended  merely  to  enjoin  the  application  to  an  elder,  of  a 
rule  which  held  among  the  Jews  for  every  man's  protection ;  nor  that 
he  meant  to  enforce  through  Timothy,  the  Jewish  usage  on  this  subject. 


not  Buffering  an  accusation  to  be  admitted  against  them,  without  the  like  number 
of  witnesses."    In  loco. 

Bloomfield,  in  loco,  refers  to  Whitby,  and  translates  "before,"  under  the  testi- 
mony of"  two  or  three  witnesses." 

Macknight,  paraphrasing  the  text  thus—"  Against  an  elder,  whether  he  be  a 
bishop,  a  president,  or  a  deacon,  receive  not  an  accusation,  unless  it  is  offered  to 
be  proved  by  two  or  three  credible  witnesses,"  says,  in  his  note,  "  this,"  ("  by  two 
or  three  witnesses,")  "  I  think,  is  the  proper  translation  of  the  clause.  For  I  see 
no  reason  why  an  accusation  against  an  elder  should  not  be  received,  unless  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses.  But  I  see  a  good  reason  for  not  receiving  such  an  accu- 
sation, unless  it  is  offered  to  be  proved  by  a  sufficient  number  of  credible  witnesses. 
This  method  of  proceeding  puts  a  stop  to  groundless  accusations  of  the  ministers 
of  religion."    In  loco. 

Thomas  Scott.  "  The  character  of  an  elder  or  pastor  was  of  very  great  im- 
portance :  it  would  therefore  be  improper  not  only  to  condemn  him>  but  even  1  to 
receive  an  accusation  againsf  him,  except  it  was  attested  by  two  or  three  credi- 
ble witnesses.  Many  might  be  disposed  to  revile  those  faithful  ministers,  whose 
doctrine  and  reproofs  had  offended  them ;  and  indeed,  the  grand  enmity  of  '  the 
accuser  of  the  brethren,'  and  of  all  his  servants,  would  be  excited  against  them. 
It  was  therefore  highly  reasonable  that  no  accusation,  tending  to  bring  the  con- 
duct of  an  elder  to  a  public  investigation,  and  thus  to  impeach  or  endanger  his 
character,  should  be  regarded,  if  supported  only  by  one  solitary  testimony,  which 
his  denial  of  the  crime  must  at  least  counterbalance."    In  loco. 

Burkitt  sustains  the  same  views,  "  because  it  is  the  interest  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  that  the  reputation  of  its  ministers  should  be  supported  ;  and  because  pre- 
judiced persons  will  be  ready  to  accuse  without  reason."    In  loco. 

Doddridge,  speaking,  in  loco,  of  the  elders  of  the  Church,  says — "-Great  care 
should  also  be  taken  that  their  reputation,  on  which  their  usefulness  will  so  much 
depend,  may  not  be  lightly  impeached.  Accordingly,  do  not  receive  an  accusation 
against  an  elder,  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  or  three  credible  witnesses,  for  the 
single  report  of  any  one  person  is  not  material  enough  to  set  against  the  word  of 
an  elder  maintaining  his  own  innocence." 

Adam  Clarke.  "  Be  very  cautious  of  receiving  evil  reports  against  those  whose 
business  it  is  to  preach  to  others,  and  correct  their  vices.  Do  not  consider  an  el- 
.der  as  guilty  of  any  alleged  crime,  unless  it  be  proved  by  two  or  three  witnesses. 
This  the  law  of  Moses  required  in  respect  to  all.  Among  the  Romans,  a  plebeian 
might  be  condemned  on  the  deposition  of  one  credible  witness  ;  but  it  required  two 
to  convict  a  senator.  The  reason  of  this  difference  is  evident ;  those  whose  bu- 
siness it  is  to  correct  others,  will  usually  have  many  enemies  :  great  caution 
should  therefore  be  used  in  admitting  accusations  against  such  persons."  In 
loco. 

Matthew  Henry.  "  Here  is  the  Scripture  method  of  proceeding  against  an 
elder,  when  accused  of  any  crime.  Observe,  1.  There  must  be  an  accusation  ;  it 
must  not  be  a  flying,  uncertain  report ;  but  an  accusation,  containing  a  certain 
charge,  must  be  drawn  up.  Further,  he  is  not  to  be  proceeded  against  by  way  of 
inquiry :  this  is  according  to  the  modern  practice  of  the  Inquisition,  which  draws 
up  articles  for  men  to  purge  themselves  of  such  crimes,  or  else  to  accuse  them- 
selves ;  but,  according  to  the  advice  of  St.  Paul,  there  must  be  an  accusation 
brought  against  an  elder.  2.  This  accusation  is  not  to  be  received  unless  sup- 
ported by  two  or  three  credible  witnesses ;  and  the  accusation  must  be  received 
before  them,  that  is,  the  accused  must  have  the  accusers  face  to  face,  because  the 


15 


It  was  to  the  Bishop  of  the  Church  at  Ephesusthat  he  was  giving  direc- 
tion, for  the  use  and  government  of  Greeks,  and  not  of  Jews ;  and  so  of  the 
whole  Church,  in  every  age,  through  all  the  world  ;  and  it  comes  in,  you 
will  observe,  in  the  midst  of  other  precepts,  touching  elders,  which  are  most 
clearly  of  a  catholic  and  abiding  application.  "  Let  the  elders  that  rule 
well,  be  counted  worthy  of  double  honor/'  1  Timothy  v.  17.  "  Against 
an  elder  receive  not  an  accusation,  but  before  two  or  three  witnesses,"  19. 
"  Lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,"  22.  I  put  myself,  then,  and  I  must  put 
myself  in  this,  and  every  similar  case,  upon  the  literal  sense  of  the  Apostle's 
rule.  "  I  cannot  go  beyond  the  word  of  the  Lord  my  God  to  do  less  or  more." 
I  bound  myself  to  this  when  I  was  consecrated,  saying,  in  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion, "  Will  you  diligently  exercise  such  discipline  as  by  the  authority  of 
God's  word,  and  by  the  order  of  this  Church,  is  committed  to  you  ?"  " 1  will 
so  do  by  the  help  of  God."  I  find  nothing  in  this  apostolic  rule  of  one  wit- 
ness, and  circumstances  amounting  to  another ;  an  interpretation  of  it 
strangely  unavailing  in  the  present  case,  where  circumstances  uniformly 
make  against  the  testimony  of  the  single  witness  by  which  any  accusation 
in  the  whole  Presentment  is  attempted  to  be  sustained.  All  that  I  read  is, 
"  Against  an  elder  receive  not  an  accusation." — receive  not  any  accusation, 
— M  but  before,  or  under,  or  by,  or  on  the  authority,  or  upon  the  testimony 
of  two  or  three  witnesses."  That  it  was  so  understood  in  the  early  ages  of 
the  Church,  I  prove  by  the  seventy-fifth  of  the  Apostolic  Canons  :  "  An  here- 
tic is  not  to  be  received  as  witness  against  a  Bishop,  neither  only  one  believer  ; 
for  in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses,  every  word  shall  be  established." 
I  appeal  to  the  established  rule  of  canon  law,  as  bringing  down  with  it  this 


reputation  of  a  minister  is,  in  a  particular  manner,  a  tender  thing;  and  therefore, 
before  any  thing  be  done  in  the  least  to  blemish  that  reputation,  great  care  must 
be  taken  that  the  thing  alleged  against  him  be  well  proved,  that  he  be  not  re- 
proached upon  an  uncertain  surmise."    In  loco. 

Girdlestone.  "  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  clergy,  instead  of  being  held 
in  honor  of  their  brethren,  to  be  the  marked  objects  of  censure,  slander,  and  in- 
dignity. So  apt  are  men  to  fancy  that  any  fault  which  they  can  find  or  feign  in  their 
teachers,  may  serve  for  excuse  of  like  failings  in  themselves.  So  unreasonably 
do  they  expect,  that  perfection  in  their  fellow-creatures,  which  is  to  be  met  with 
only  in  our  one  great  High  Priest,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  Well  might  each  pri- 
vate Christian  herein  adopt  the  rule,  which  is  prescribed  to  Timothy  concerning 
an  elder,  to  receive  no  accusation  against  such,  '  but  before  two  or  three  witnesses.' 
Hush,  let  us  say  to  those  who  are  finding  fault  with  our  pastor,  I  dare  not 
so  much  as  listen  to  your  accusation,  much  less  can  I  listen  with  satisfaction.  If 
what  you  say  be  true,  it  could  do  me  no  good  to  hear  it.  Take  the  charge  to  them 
which  are  in  authority.  Take  with  you  at  least  two  or  three  witnesses,  and  lay 
the  matter  before  the  rulers  of  the  Church.  It  is  their  duty  to  inquire.  It  is  their 
duty,  and  I  trust  they  will  discharge  it  faithfully ;  it  is  their  duty  to  rebuke  before 
all  the  ministers,  who  sin,  '  that  others  also  may  fear.'  I  trust  that  they  will  not 
forget  the  Apostle's  solemn  charge,  to  observe  these  things,  '  without  preferring 
one  before  another,  doing  nothing  by  partiality.'  However  much  inconvenience 
it  may  cost  us,  let  us  not  refrain  in  such  a  case  from  offering  them  our  testimony 
as  to  the  things  we  know.  This  may  help  to  justice.  And  whether  it  substan- 
tiate innocence,  or  tend  to  the  removal  of  the  guilty,  it  will  promote  the  glory  of 
Christ.  But  let  us,  at  the  same  time,  be  continually  on  the  watch  that  we  neither 
revile,  nor  suffer  others  in  our  presence  to  revile,  our  ministers  in  private.  Such 
censure  is  more  easy,  and  to  our  selfish  nature  more  agreeable,  than  a  public  ac- 
cusation. But  it  is  at  once  cruel  and  unjust  to  them,  hurtful  to  ourselves,  and 
detrimental  to  the  honor  of  our  Lord."    In  loco. 


16 


ancient  precept ;  citing  from  Bishop  Gibson's  master  work,  "  In  the  spiritual 
courts  they  admit  no  proof  but  by  two  witnesses  at  least." — Codex  Juris 
Ecclesiastici  Anglicani,  1011.  I  claim  the  practice  of  the  civil  law,  in 
this  behalf,  not  as  a  rule,  but  as  a  witness ;  and  I  reject  the  claim  that  the 
common  law  must  be  allowed  to  limit  the  Apostle,  on  the  same  ground  that 
the  binding  force  of  the  civil  law,  as  law,  would  be  rejected  ;  that  this 
Church  has  not  enacted  its  adoption.  On  the  simple,  but  to  me,  sufficient 
word  of  the  Apostle,  I  require  two  witnesses  for  the  support  of  this,  and  (to 
save  time,  I  add,)  of  every  other  "  accusation  "  included  in  the  Present- 
ment now  before  us.  And,  as  there  is  to  that  which  constitutes  the  "  accu- 
sation," the  implication  of  criminality,  no  other  than  the  single  testimony  of 
Mrs.  Butler — her  husband  saying  expressly  of  all  that  he  saw,  "  I  did  not 
think  it  of  such  a  character  as  to  call  for  notice  at  the  time," — I  am  bound 
by  my  consecration  vow  to  say,  it  is  not  proved. 

I  am  aware  that  it  is  said,  the  "  accusation"  is  the  whole  Presentment, 
and  this  but  one  of  several  specifications  under  it.  I  ask,  if  this  were  the 
only  article,  whether  it  would  not  be  "  an  accusation  ?"  I  ask,  if  every 
specification  or  " article,"  is  not,  in  like  manner,  "  an  accusation?"  and 
then,  I  ask,  is  not  the  Apostle's  rule,  the  Church's  rule,  God's  rule,  this 
Court's  rule  ;  "  against  an  elder  receive  not  an  accusation," — any  accusa- 
tion— but  on  the  testimony  of  "  two  or  three  witnesses?" 

I  am  aware  that  it  may  be  said  this  rule  was  for  the  government  of  the 
Presenting  Bishops.  It  was  for  them  to  say  whether  every  "  article"  or  "  ac- 
cusation" was  sufficiently  sustained.  That  taking  this  for  granted,  it  comes 
before  us  now  endorsed  with  their  three  names,  and  so  maintained  by  full 
"three  witnesses."  But  this  would  prove  too  much,  since  it  would  substi- 
tute their  signatures  for  evidence,  and  make  presentment  condemnation.  I 
grant  that  it  was  for  them  to  apply  the  Apostle's  rule.  I  wish  they  had  done 
so.  But  if  they  had,  if  they  had  sent  to  us  with  every  "  article"  or  "  ac- 
cusation" the  Scriptural  full  measure,  "  three  witnesses,"  it  would  still  have 
remained  for  us  to  try  their  testimony.  I  remind  the  Court,  that  at  an  early 
stage  in  these  proceedings,  the  question  was  raised,  what  should  be  the  number 
of  witnesses  required  for  any  charge,  and  its  decision  laid  over  for  a  subse- 
quent consideration  ;  and  I  insist,  that  what  was  binding  as  the  Scriptural  rule 
on  the  Presenting  Bishops,  inreceiving  any  "  accusation"  is  binding  a  fortiori 
on  this  Court,  in  trying  every  "accusation"  included  by  them  in  this  Pre- 
sentment. 

I  am  aware  of  what  is  called  the  argument  by  cumulation  ;  that  an  un- 
proved charge  is  made  to  lend  its  color  to  another  unproved  charge,  so  that 
one  proved  charge  is  made  up  of  the  two.  Against  this  view,  I  hold,  that, 
of  any  number  of  specifications  under  a  charge,  all  must  be  proved  as  fully 
as  if  there  were  but  one.  I  hold  that  no  number  of  specifications,  however 
great,  if  none  of  them  be  fully  proved,  sustain  a  charge.  It  might  as  well 
be  claimed,  that,  from  any  series  of  mere  minus  quantities,  plus  ever  could 
result.  I  cite  on  this  subject  the  sufficient  authority  of  Starkie's  well-known 
work  on  Evidence.  "  The  circumstances  from  which  the  conclusion  is  drawn 
should  be  fully  established.  If  the  basis  be  unsound,  the  superstructure 
cannot  be  secure.  The  party  upon  whom  the  burden  of  proof  rests,  is 
bound  to  prove  every  single  circumstance  which  is  essential  to  the  conclu- 
sion, in  the  same  manner,  and  to  the  same  extent,  as  if  the  whole  issue  had 
rested  upon  the  proof  of  each  individual  and  essential  circumstance." — Third 
American  Edition,  I.  507. 


17 

But  I  am  not  disposed  to  leave  the  matter  even  thus.  Suppose  the  ob- 
jection waived  to  the  character  and  competency  of  the  evidence.  Is  it 
sufficient,  then,  to  establish  the  acts  charged  in  this  "  article,"  and  to  estab- 
lish them  as  acts  of  immorality  and  impurity  ;  and  does  it  follow,  that  to 
deny  these  conclusions  is  to  charge  the  witness  as  a  perjured  person  ?  Im- 
morality and  impurity,  as  qualities  or  habits,  are  evil  from  their  seeking  evil 
ends  ;  and  acts  are  either  good  or  bad,  in  morals,  according  to  their  aim. 
It  is  true  that  we  infer  the  intention  from  the  act ;  but  it  is  also  true,  that 
where  the  intention  of  evil  is  not  manifest,  the  acts  of  men  are  entitled  to 
any  sufficient  explanation  of  them,  which  involves  no  evil  purpose.  In  the 
first  place,  then,  is  there  not  great  exposure  to  over-estimation  of  the  facts 
alleged,  in  the  impression  with  which  the  witness  started  on  the  journey, 
that  the  Respondent  was  not  quite  himself  ?  I  do  not  at  all  allow  that  her 
impression  was  correct ;  but  she,  it  seems,  adopted  it,  and  began  to  be  sus- 
picious of  it,  from  the  moment  of  their  meeting  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Munn. 
Should  it  not  be  thought  of,  in  the  consideration  of  her  testimony,  as  giving 
to  her  estimate  of  what  occurred,  an  exaggerated  and  probably  a  distorted 
character  ?  Should  it  not  be  taken  in  connection  with  all  she  has  said,  and 
all  she  thought,  to  mitigate  and  correct  it  ?  And  now,  as  to  the  intention 
of  evil  in  the  Respondent,  what  could  it  have  been  1  What  could  have 
originated — what  could  have  encouraged  it  1  Where  was  the  opportunity  ? 
What  was  to  come  of  it  ?  In  this  case,  (and,  it  may  as  well  be  stated  here,  in 
every  case  alleged,)  ulterior  evil  seems  impracticable.  The  actions  charged, 
were  passages  that  could  lead  to  nothing.  In  carriages — in  the  presence 
or  immediate  reach  of  husbands,  or  near  relations,  or  of  a  Christian  Minis- 
ter— or  in  a  room  with  doors  wide  open — can  any  thing  be  thought  of  more 
improbable  ?  I  do  not  reason  from  the  office,  or  supposed  character,  of  the 
Respondent.  I  rather  reason  from  the  very  nature  of  things.  No,  or  but 
little  previous  acquaintance,  (except  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Butler,  who  had 
been  a  child  upon  his  knee) — no  expectation  of  future  intercourse — no  at- 
tempt to  renew  it — with  no  insidious  preparation — without  a  word — without 
a  look  of  evil — suddenly,  abruptly,  roughly.  Is  this  the  working  of  the 
will  of  a  seducer  ?  Is  this  the  driving  of  a  lust  towards  its  end  ?  Is  this,  as 
all  experience  goes,  in  rerum  naturd  ?  I  think  not.  What  then  ?  Is  the 
witness  to  the  present  allegation  a  perjured  person  ?  Are  all  the  other 
witnesses  perjured  in  like  manner  ?  I  make  no  such  presumption. 
Doubtless  in  the  affidavit,  and  in  the  testimony  under  this  present  article, 
there  are  discrepancies  not  easy  to  be  reconciled.  The  improbability 
of  the  statement,  that  a  considerable  portion  of  ten  or  twelve  miles  were 
driven  after  dark,  when  the  parties  started  an  hour  before  sunset,  on  a  day 
when  twilight  lasted  two  hours  after  the  sun  was  down,  and  continued  to 
drive  steadily  on.  The  disagreement  betwreen  the  affidavit  and  the  testi- 
mony of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butler,  as  to  when  and  how  the  most  offensive  im- 
pression was  first  received  by  him.  The  singular  want  of  understanding, 
for  so  many  years,  between  the  witness  and  her  husband,  as  to  this  point, 
so  that  that  which  never  did  occur,  and  which  she  never  said  occurred, 
should  yet  be  sworn  to  in  his  solemn  affidavit.  But  I  leave  all  these  to 
state  what  I  believe  to  be  the  true  solution  of  this  case,  and  of  the  rest. 
The  Respondent  is  a  man  of  free  and  unsuspecting  nature.  The  law  of 
kindness  overflows  in  him.  He  has  indulged  it  always  in  acts  of  great 
familiarity.  He  has  acquired  a  habit  which  might  easily  permit,  in  him, 
freedoms  of  posture  and  of  gesture,  which  another,  with  less  purity  of  heart, 

3 


16 


might  carefully  avoid.  It  has  been  manifest  in  all  his  intercourse. 
It  is  proverbial.  Those  who  have  known  him  well,  think  nothing  of 
it.  In  every  ten  to  whom  it  might  occur,  there  might  be  nine  to  do  so ; 
the  tenth  might  view  it  otherwise.  I  do  not  justify  it ;  I  regret  it.  But 
there  never  seems  to  have  been  the  thought  of  harm  in  it.  It  never  sought 
concealment :  it  was  never  gone  after  :  it  was  never  followed  up  :  it  was 
done  with  the  manner  of  a  father  to  a  child  :  it  was  accompanied  with  words 
to  that  effect,  as  several  witnesses  have  testified.  He  had  been  so  exten- 
sively connected,  as  a  pastor  and  as  a  friend  ;  so  many  had  grown  up  upon 
his  knee,  as  with  the  present  witness  ;  these  acts  of  fondness  had  so  insen- 
sibly stolen  on,  from  infancy  to  childhood,  to  girlhood,  to  womanhood  ;  they 
had  so  shaped  his  whole  demeanor,  that  they  were  done,  when  done,  with- 
out a  thought,  and  never  thought  of  afterwards.  In  these  ways,  a  care- 
lessness of  manner  was  acquired,  which  rendered  postures  that  might  be 
mistaken,  and  motives  that  might  be  misconstrued,  and  gestures  that  might 
be  misconceived,  and  contacts  that  never  were  intended,  an  easy  thing  ; 
and  yet,  however  liable  to  error,  in  the  judgment  of  the  second  per- 
son, or  of  the  looker-on,  in  him  without  a  thought  of  evil.  It  is 
so  that  I  account  for  what  must  have  occurred,  to  give  any  semblance 
to  the  statements  of  the  witness  under  this,  as  under  the  other  articles. 
Less  occurred,  I  have  no  doubt,  than  in  her  excited  apprehension  was 
supposed.  Less  occurred,  I  have  no  doubt,  than  to  her  recollection,  over- 
wrought by  recent  agitations,  and  the  conforming  influence  of  sympathy, 
especially  on  female  temperaments,  now  appears.  I  feel  well  satisfied 
that,  had  she  not  been  governed,  at  the  time,  as  she  admits  she  was,  partly 
by  her  remembrance  of  the  kindly  ways  of  her  father's  familiar  friend, 
and  partly  by  what  she  supposed  the  excitement  of  his  condition,  the  wo- 
man nature  that  was  in  her  would  have  overleaped  the  thought  of  prudence, 
and  found  rescue  long  before.  Nothing,  as  I  believe,  on  full  consideration 
oj  the  evidence,  was  done,  that  had  in  it  the  thought  of  immorality  or  im- 
purity. I  therefore  "  declare"  the  Respondent,  in  my  "  opinion,"  not 
guilty  of  the  charge,  or  charges,  alleged  in  Article  I.  of  the  Presentment. 

II.  I  am  called  on  to  declare  whether  in  my  opinion  the  Respondent  is 
"  guilty"  or  "  not  guilty"  of  immorality  and  impurity  in  the  following  "  arti- 
cle "  which  has  just  been  read,  viz  :  "  that  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk, 
Bishop  as  aforesaid,  at  the  said  time  and  place  mentioned  in  the  last  speci- 
fication, was  under  the  influence  of,  and  improperly  excited  by,  vinous  or 
spirituous  liquors,  drunk  by  him,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  contrary 
to  his  duty  as  Bishop,  and  to  the  scandal  and  injury  of  said  Church." 

If  it  were  proved  that  this  were  so,  it  could  not  be  alleged  as  a  charge  of 
present  immorality.  To  have  been  "  improperly  excited"  seven  years  and 
a  half  ago,  could  not  be  claimed  as  going  to  establish  the  existence  now  of 
evil  habit.  Not  to  say  that  by  the  very  language  used,  a  question  of  less  or 
more  is  introduced,  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  terms  of  a  Presentment. 
But  such  as  it  is,  it  is  by  no  means  proved.  It  is  not  alleged  that  any  thing 
was  drunk  upon  the  road.  The  duties  of  the  day — a  full  morning  service, 
and  a  sermon,  with  the  Holy  Communion  ;  a  full  evening  service  and  a  ser- 
mon, with  Confirmation — and  setting  out  directly  after  the  latter,  hardly 
allow  the  opportunity  which  such  a  charge  required.  It  rests  on  the  smell 
of  the  breath,  on  a  talkative  disposition,  on  the  supposed  thickness  of  the  voice, 
and  on  sleeping  heavily,  all  which  might  have  occurred  without  improper 
excitement ;  and  against  all  which  are  to  be  set  the  admitted  facts,  that 


19 


many  letters  were  read,  some  read  aloud,  and  all  without  the  slightest  fail- 
ure in  articulation  or  intelligence. 

I  therefore  declare  the  Respondent,  in  my  "  opinion,"  not  guilty  of  the 
charge  or  charges  alleged  in  Article  II.  of  the  Presentment. 

III.  I  am  called  on  to  declare  whether  in  my  "  opinion  "  the  Respondent 
in  this  case  is  "  guilty"  or  "  not  guilty"  of  immorality  and  impurity  in  the  fol- 
lowing *  article"  which  has  just  been  read,  viz  :  that  "  the  said  Benjamin 
T.  Onderdonk,  being  then  Bishop  as  aforesaid,  was  travelling  in  a  public 
stage  from  Batavia,  in  the  Diocese  of  New  York,  to  Utica  in  the  same  Dio- 
cese, for  the  purpose  of  attending  a  meeting  of  the  Convention  of  the  said 
Diocese,  then  about  to  be  held  at  Utica  ;  that  the  only  passengers  in  the 
said  stage  were  the  said  Bishop  and  the  Rev.  James  A.  Bolles  and  a  young 
woman  to  the  said  Presenting  Bishops  unknown,  and  whose  name  they  are 
not  able  to  furnish  ;  that  the  said  Bishop  and  young  woman  occupied  the 
back  seat,  and  the  said  James  A.  Bolles  the  middle  seat  of  the  said  stage ; 
and  that  thereupon  afterwards,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  impurely 
and  unchastely  put  his  arm  around  the  body  of  the  said  young  woman,  and 
took  other  indecent  liberties  with  her  person,  and  behaved  in  so  improper 
and  unbecoming  a  manner,  that  the  said  young  woman  endeavored  to  get 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  and  finally,  with  a 
view  to  escape  his  rudeness,  left  the  stage  before  reaching  the  place  of  her 
destination  :  which  said  conduct  of  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  the 
said  Bishops  present  as  contrary  to  his  consecration  vow  in  that  behalf,  and 
to  the  scandal  and  injury  of  the  Church  aforesaid." 

It  would  be  fatal  to  this  article,  were  there  no  other  objection  to  it,  that  it 
comes  into  the  Presentment  on  inferior  evidence,  where  there  was  better  to 
be  had.  Three  Bishops,  under  this  Canon,  come  in  the  place  of  two-thirds  of 
two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  clergy  in  any  Diocese  ;  and  of  two-thirds 
of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  parishes  canonically  in  union  with 
the  Convention  in  said  Diocese  ;  they  are  thus  made  equal  to  four-ninths 
of  any  Diocese.  It  is  a  tremendous  responsibility.  It  must  be'  borne  with 
very  inferior  opportunities,  and  with  a  liability  to  error  greatly  increased. 
It  must,  therefore,  if  the  peace  of  the  Church,  and  the  fraternal  intercourse 
of  the  Bishops  are  to  be  preserved,  be  exercised  with  the  most  rigorous 
care.  It  should  not  have  suffered  itself,  in  this  case,  to  make  use  of  any 
other  person's  affidavit,  when  the  only  witness,  Mr.  Bolles,  was  equally 
accessible.  "  There  is,  however,  as  it  seems,"  says  Starkie,  "  but  one  rule 
of  policy  which  operates  as  a  general  principle  of  evidence  ;  the  exclusion 
in  other  cases  being  casual  and  fortuitous,  and  depending  on  grounds  un- 
connected with  the  principles  on  which  the  system  is  founded.  This  rule 
or  principle  consists  in  requiring  the  best  evidence  to  be  adduced,  which 
the  case  admits  of ;  or  rather,  perhaps,  more  properly,  in  rejecting  second- 
ary and  inferior  evidence,  when  it  is  attempted  to  be  substituted  for  evidence 
of  a  higher  and  superior  nature.  This  is  a  rule  of  policy  grounded  on 
a  reasonable  suspicion,  that  the  substitution  of  inferior  for  better  evidence, 
arises  from  some  sinister  motive ;  and  an  apprehension  that  the  best  evi- 
dence, if  produced,  would  alter  the  case,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  party."  I. 
102.  I  desire  here,  once  for  all,  to  disclaim  any  doubt  of  fairness  in  the 
Presenters,  in  this  case.  I  look  at  facts,  as  they  have  come  before  us. 
As  to  the  first  "  article,"  that  it  was  sustained  by  but  one  witness,  so  to 
this,  besides  that  objection,  I  also  object,  that  that  one  witness,  by  his  affi- 
davit, was  not  made  the  basis  of  the  charge ;  but  the  affidavit  of  a  person 


20 


who  was  not  a  witness,  and  who  could,  therefore,  give  but  hearsay  evidence, 
used  for  that  purpose.  Nor  does  the  testimony  of  the  only  witness  at  all 
sustain  the  charge.  It  is  proved  by  him  that  the  particulars  were  other- 
wise than  they  are  charged.  It  is  proved  by  him,  that  he  attached  no 
serious  importance  to  what  did  occur  ;  and  never  would  have  mentioned 
it,  but  for  the  rumor  of  the  Butler  case,  which  met  him  at  Utica.  It  is 
proved  by  him,  that  in  the  conversation  of  himself  and  a  third  person  with 
the  Bishop,  had  at  Utica,  immediately  thereafter,  he  (the  witness)  expressly 
corrected,  and  positively  denied,  what  constitutes,  in  this  Presentment,  the 
whole  gravamen  of  the  charge.  I  therefore  declare  the  Respondent,  in  my 
"opinion,"  not  guilty  of  the  charge  or  charges  alleged  in  Article  HI.  of 
the  Presentment. 

IV.  As  no  evidence  has  been  adduced  under  the  fourth  "  article"  of  the 
Presentment,  I  of  course  "declare,"  as  my  "opinion,"  that  the  Respondent 
is  not  guilty  of  the  charge  or  charges  alleged  in  it. 

V.  I  am  called  on  to  declare,  whether  in  my  "  opinion"  the  Respondent 
iu  this  case  is  "guilty"  or  "not  guilty"  of  immorality  and  impurity,  in 
the  following  "  article,"  which  has  just  been  read,  viz.,  "  that  between  the 
months  of  May  and  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1841,  to  wit,  on  or  about 
Sunday  the  13th  day  of  June  in  the  said  last  mentioned  year,  the  said 
Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  then  being  Bishop  as  aforesaid,  visited  St.  James' 
Church,  Hamilton  Square,  New  York  city  ;  that  soon  after  the  services  of 
the  Church  were  ended,  and  on  the  day  last  aforesaid,  he  left  the  said 
church  in  a  carriage  in  company  with  Miss  Helen  M.  Rudderow,  a  young 
lady,  to  proceed  as  a  guest  to  the  house  of  her  brother,  John  Rudderow, 
Esq. ;  that  while  riding  in  the  said  carriage,  by  the  side  of  the  said  young 
lady,  he,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  impurely  and  unchastely 
thrust  his  hand  beneath  her  dress,  upon  the  bosom  of  the  said  Helen  M, 
Rudderow,  to  her  great  alarm  and  consternation,  and  in  violation  of  the 
proper  duty  of  a  Bishop,  and  in  breach  of  the  consecration  vow  of  the 
said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  to  the  great  scandal  and  injury  of  the  Church 
of  Christ." 

Referring  to  the  statement  made  at  length,  before,  of  habits  of  innocent 
familiarity  in  the  Respondent,  which,  to  one  who  did  not  know  him  well,  (as 
was  the  case  with  the  witness  to  this,  and  every  other  article  in  the  Present- 
ment, since  the  first,)  might  easily  present  the  appearance  of  improper 
freedoms  ;  considering  the  time  and  place,  and  circumstances  of  the  al- 
leged occurrence,  as  involving  an  inevitable  exposure  ;  considering  the 
absence  of  that  instinctive  refuge  which  a  woman  finds  or  makes,  who 
feels  herself  insulted ;  considering  the  subsequent  deportment  of  the  wit- 
ness in  this  case  towards  the  Respondent,  as  inconsistent  with  the  thought, 
at  that  time,  that  she  had  been  so  aggrieved  ;  considering  that  she  stands 
alone  in  the  Presentment  as  a  witness  to  this  charge,  appearing  chiefly  in 
her  sister's  affidavit,  upon  hearsay  merely  ;  considering  that  in  her  gene- 
ral attestation,  in  her  own  brief  affidavit,  that  "  every  word"  of  her  sister 
Jane's  "  is  true,"  when  she  was  not  a  witness  of  what  is  alleged  to  have  oc- 
curred between  the  Respondent  and  her  sister,  and  could  know  it  only  on 
her  statement,  she  has  shown  herself  not  clearly  sensible  of  the  solemni- 
ty of  testimony  under  oath,  I  declare  the  Respondent,  in  my  "  opinion," 
not  guilty  of  the  charge  or  charges  alleged  in  article  V.  of  this  Presentment. 

VI.  1  am  called  on  to  declare  whether  in  my  "  opinion"  the  Respondent 
in  this  case  is  "  guilty,"  or  "  not  guilty,"  of  immorality  and  impurity  in  the 


21 


following  "  article,"  which  has  just  been  read,  viz. :  "  that  on  the  same  day 
mentioned  in  the  last  specification,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk, 
"  Bishop  as  aforesaid,  was  received  at  the  house  of  the  said  John  Rudde- 
"  row,  in  the  parlor  thereof,  by  Jane  O.  Rudderow,  and  that  thereupon,  the 
"  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  impurely  and  unchastely  thrust  his  hand 
"into  the  bosom  of  the  said  Jane  O.  Rudderow,  and  upon  being  repelled, 
"took  other  indecent  and  unbecoming  liberties  with  the  said  lady,  in  viola- 
"  tion  of  his  duty  as  Bishop,  and  his  consecration  vow  in  that  behalf,  and 
"  to  the  great  scandal  and  disgrace  of  his  said  office." 

On  the  same  grounds  as  those  alleged  before,  under  the  last  article,  in- 
creased by  greater  improbability,  if  that  be  possible,  that  the  acts  of  the 
Respondent,  at  the  time,  could  have  been  such  as  to  be  thought  insulting, 
and  by  fuller  evidence  of  subsequent  cordiality,  evincing  a  continued  ab- 
sence of  such  conviction  ;  rejecting  the  single  witness,  as  insufficient,  by 
the  rule  of  the  Apostle,  to  prove  any  "  accusation"  against  the  Respondent; 
and  deeming  what  did  occur  between  them  as  fully  met  by  the  explanation 
given  before,  of  the  Respondent's  manner,  I  declare  him  not  guilty,  in  my 
"  opinion,"  of  the  charge  or  charges  alleged  in  article  VI.  of  this  Pre- 
sentment. 

VII.  I  am  called  on  to  declare  whether,  in  my  "  opinion,"  the  Respondent 
is  "  guilty,"  or  "  not  guilty,"  "  of  immorality  and  impurity,"  in  the  following 
"  article"  which  has  just  been  read.  "  That  on  or  about  the  17th  day  of 
"  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1842,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  then 
"  being  Bishop  as  aforesaid,  held  a  confirmation  at  Zion  Church,  Long  Isl- 
"  and,  in  the  Diocese  of  New  York  :  that  after  the  services  were  ended,  the 
"  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  returned  to  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Henry  M. 
u  Beare,  where  he  was  a  guest,  in  the  carriage  of  the  said  Henry  M.  Beare, 
"  in  company  with  Mrs.  Charlotte  E.  Beare,  the  wife  of  the  said  Henry  ; 
"  that  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  and  Charlotte  E.  Beare,  occupied 
"  the  back  seat  of  the  said  carriage,  and  the  other  persons  in  the  same  were 
"  so  situated,  as  to  have  their  backs  towards  the  Bishop  and  the  said  Char- 
"  lotte  ;  that  thereupon,  he,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  impurely  and 
"  unchastely  put  his  arm  around  the  body  of  the  said  Charlotte,  drew  her 
"towards  himself,  and  at  the  same  time  felt  her  bosom  in  an  improper  and 
"  indecent  manner,  so  as  to  scandalize  the  feelings  of  said  lady,  and  cause 
"  her  to  remove  herself  from  him  as  far  as  the  side  of  the  carriage  would 
"  permit,  to  avoid  his  rudeness,  in  violation  of  his  duty  as  Bishop,  and 
"  of  his  consecration  vow,  in  that  behalf,  and  to  the  disgrace  of  his  said 
"  office." 

In  the  absence  of  more  than  one  witness,  (the  article  in  the  Presentment, 
moreover,  contrary  to  the  rule  alleged  before  from  Starkie,  is  founded  on 
the  affidavit  of  the  husband  of  the  witness,  and  not  on  her  own  ;)  in  the  ex- 
treme improbability  that  an  impression  then  received  of  actual  impurity 
would  have  kept  silence  under  it,  and  again  exposed  itself  to  a  repetition  of 
the  same,  rather  than  walk  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  through  Mr.  Franklin's 
lane,  or  request  Mr.  Thomas  Beare  to  go  that  much  out  of  his  way ;  in  the 
much  greater  improbability  that  such  an  impression  would  have  exposed 
itself  at  night  to  such  a  repetition,  when,  for  all  that  has  been  shown,  the 
other  carriage,  and  the  boy  that  drove  it  in  the  morning,  might  have  been 
employed ;  and  explaining  whatever  did  occur  to  excite  the  apprehension 
of  an  undue  freedom,  by  the  indulgence  in  the  careless  way  alluded  to  be- 


22 


fore,  I  "  declare"  the  Respondent  not  guilty,  in  my  "  opinion,"  of  the 
charge  or  charges  alleged  in  Article  VII.  of  the  Presentment. 

VIII.  I  am  called  on,  finally,  to  "declare"  whether,  in  my  "opinion," 
the  Respondent  in  this  case  is  "  guilty,"  or  "  not  guilty,"  "  of  immorality 
and  impurity,"  in  the  following  "  article,"  which  has  just  been  read,  viz.  : 
"  that  in  the  afternoon  of  the  said  17th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1842,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  held  a  confirmation  at  Whitestone 
Chapel  on  Long  Island  aforesaid  ;  and  after  the  services,  went  to  spend  the 
evening  at  the  house  of  Joseph  L.  Franklin,  Esq.,  on  said  Island.  That 
about  9  o'clock  at  night,  the  said  Bishop  was  returning  home  to  the  house 
of  the  said  Henry  M.  Beare,  where  he  was  a  guest,  and  was  accompanied, 
in  the  carriage  of  the  said  Henry  M.  Beare,  by  the  said  Charlotte,  the  wife 
of  the  said  Henry — she  being  constrained  by  circumstances  to  ride  with  the 
said  Bishop,  against  her  desire,  and  she  and  the  said  Bishop  sitting  alone  on 
the  back  seat.  That  while  thus  on  their  way,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onder- 
donk again  insulted  the  said  Charlotte  E.  Beare  in  the  grossest  manner,  by 
impurely  and  unchastely  putting  one  arm  around  her  body,  while  he  thrust 
the  other  hand  beneath  her  dress  upon  her  naked  bosom  ;  that,  upon  the 
same  being  indignantly  repelled,  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  repeated 
the  indignity,  and  finished  his  rudeness  by  passing  his  hand  in  the  most 
indecent  manner  down  the  body  of  the  said  Charlotte,  outside  of  her  dress, 
so  that  nothing  but  the  end  of  her  corset  bone  prevented  his  hand  from  being 
pressed  on  the  private  parts  of  her  body  :  all  which  acts  and  doings  threw 
the  said  Charlotte  into  the  deepest  distress,  to  the  manifest  scandal  and 
injury  of  the  Church,  of  which  the  said  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  was  a 
Bishop,  and  in  violation  of  his  vows  before  God,  solemnly  entered  into  on 
his  consecration." 

I  apply  to  this  "  article"  as  the  substratum  of  my  explanation,  the  solution 
given  throughout,  before.  I  grant  that  there  may  have  been  what  seemed 
to  the  witness  (again  the  single  witness)  an  undue  familiarity  of  manner ; 
and  that,  in  the  careless  way  before  described,  motions  may  have  been  made, 
and  contacts  may  have  occurred,  without  a  thought  or  consciousness  in  the 
Respondent,  which  she  misunderstood  and  misapplied.  But  I  am  unable  to 
resist  the  natural  argument  from  my  reliance  on  a  woman's  instinct,  espe- 
cially with  her  husband  within  her  reach,  against  her  then  appreciation  of 
them  in  the  way  set  forth  in  the  Presentment ;  and  I  find  it  impossible  to 
reconcile  the  uncalled  for  acts  of  courtesy  and  hospitality  which  have  been 
clearly  proved,  with  such  a  sense  of  wrong  as  is  therein  declared.  The  strength 
of  this  case  lies  in  the  supposed  admission  by  the  Respondent,  at  the  second 
interview,  with  sundry  of  the  clergy,  as  inconsistent  with  his  alleged  denial,  at 
the  first.  The  testimony  here  is  somewhat  difficult  to  reconcile.  I  put  myself, 
that  I  may  get  their  sense,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  in  the  place  of  the  witnesses  of 
the  alleged  admission.  I  suppose  myself  to  have  understood  the  Respondent, 
on  the  second  day,  to  admit  that  he  had  done  the  gross  acts  charged  in  the 
Presentment ;  and,  I  then  ask  myself,  how  is  it  possible  that  Dr.  Milnor,  Dr. 
Muhlenberg,  Dr.  Higbee,  and,  above  all,  Mr.  Beare,  as  Dr.  Milnor  positively 
testifies,  could  have  consented,  expressly  or  by  implication,  to  "  say  no  more 
about  it?"  I  feel  myself  compelled  to  stand  between  their  characters  as 
Christian  men,  and  Christian  ministers,  and  such  an  explanation.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  suppose  the  great  anxiety  of  Mr.  Beare  to  have  been,  to  have 
his  wife  relieved  from  the  denial  of  her  veracity,  (as  Dr.  Muhlenberg,  I 
think,  expresses  it,  "  her  word,")  which  had  been  just  reported  to  him ;  and 


23 


the  Respondent  readily  admitting  that  he  designed  to  bring  no  charge  against 
her  veracity,  at  the  same  time  that  all  that  she  alleged  against  himself,  as 
being  offensive,  was  without  foundation,  and  the  mere  result  of  her  misap- 
prehension ;  and  the  conclusion  then  becomes  most  natural.  Mr.  Beare  was 
relieved  from  the  impression  that  his  wife  was  charged  with  lying.  All  were 
relieved  from  the  impression  that  immorality  or  impurity  was  necessarily 
involved  in  her  statement  of  the  case.  And  they  parted  with  the  understand- 
ing that  the  affair  was  settled,  and  no  more  to  be  said  about  it.  And  there 
is  a  further,  and,  if  possible,  even  more  conclusive  test,  that  this  is  the  true 
solution,  in  the  closing  words  of  the  second  interview.  If  the  Respondent 
really  owned  his  guilt,  and  Dr.  Milnor  understood  it  so,  are  not  his  admo- 
nition, and  the  Respondent's  answer,  most  remarkable  ?  We  are  to  sup- 
pose Dr.  Milnor,  when  the  Respondent  had  not  only  confessed  impurity,  but 
convicted  himself  of  falsehood,  coolly  addressing  him  as  follows  :  "  I  hope, 
Bishop,  that  what  has  now  occurred,  will  put  you  on  your  guard  ;  the  more,  as 
I  have  heard  of  other  similar  rumors  !"  This  is  surely  not  the  language  of 
an  aged  Presbyter,  whose  mind  was  burdened  by  his  Bishop's  confession  of 
aggravated  immorality,  denied  by  him  only  the  day  before.  And  what  does 
the  Respondent  reply  ?  "  In  regard  to  rumors  of  this  kind,  Doctor,  about 
Clergymen,  there  are  few  that  have  not,  at  some  time,  had  occasion  to  en- 
counter them."  Is  this  the  answer  of  one  who  had  just  owned  his  guilt? 
And  if  it  had  been,  if  he  had  so  understood  it  then  to  be,  could  the  rejoinder 
of  Dr.  Milnor  have  been  what  has  been  stated  ?  Must  it  not  rather  have 
been  in  words  to  this  effect :  "  In  regard  to  rumors  not  admitted,  Bishop, 
your  remark  is  well ;  but  as  you  have  just  confessed  all  that  relates  to  Mrs. 
Beare,  I  see  not  how  it  can  apply  to  you."  I  thus  dispose  of  the  weight  at- 
tempted to  be  brought  to  bear  upon  this  case  by  the  alleged  discrepancy  be- 
tween the  Respondent's  conduct  at  the  first,  and  at  the  second  interview  ; 
and  am  compelled  to  "declare"  him  not  guilty,  in  my  "opinion,"  of  the 
charge  or  charges  alleged  in  Article  VIII.  of  this  Presentment. 

G.  W.  DOANE, 
Bishop  of  New  Jersey. 


ADJUDICATION  OF  THE  SENTENCE. 

The  undersigned  has  declared  his  "  opinion"  that  the  Respondent  in  this 
case  is  not  guilty  of  "  immorality  and  impurity,"  as  charged  in  the  Present- 
ment. He  holds  to  that  conviction.  A  majority  of  the  Court,  however, 
have  declared  that  in  their  "opinion"  he  is  "guilty  ;"  and  by  the  Canon, 
"  the  Court,"  of  which  the  undersigned  is  one,  must  now  "  pass  sentence, 
and  award  the  penalty  of  admonition,  suspension,  or  deposition."  The  un- 
dersigned, and  those  who  agreed  with  him  in  "  opinion,"  must  withhold 
themselves  from  the  further  action  of  "  the  Court,"  and  so  expose  the  Re- 
spondent, who,  in  their  "  opinion,"  is  not  guilty,  to  the  highest  sentence  which 
the  Canon  knows  ;  or  else  they  must  unite  in  consenting  to  a  lower  sentence 
on  one,  who,  in  their  opinion,  is  deserving  of  none.  Between  these  two, 
the  undersigned  does  not  permit  himself  to  hesitate.  "  Deposition,"  by 
the  present  canonical  provisions  of  this  Church,  is  irrevocable.  Should 


24 


such  be  the  decision  of  a  majority  of  this  Court,  not  only  the  Respondent^ 
but  themselves  would  be  cut  off  from  any  future  beneficial  action.  The  un- 
dersigned is  bound  in  conscience,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  to  avert  a  result  so 
unjust  and  so  unhappy.  Therefore,  although  he  has  voted  that  the  Respon- 
dent is  "  not  guilty,"  and  still  believes  him  so,  his  "  sentence"  is,  that  he 
receive  the  lightest  "  admonition"  permitted  lij  the  Canon. 

G.  W.  DOANE, 
Bishop  of  New  Jersey. 


FARTHER  ADJUDICATION  OF  THE  SENTENCE. 

The  Court  having  failed,  in  two  several  scrutinies,  to  "  pass  sentence7 
on  the  Respondent,  by  a  majority  of  their  votes>  the  undersigned  now  con 
sents  to  "  suspension,"  to  avoid  "  deposition." 

G.  W.  DOANE, 
Bishop  of  New  Jersey. 


OPINION  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  THE  NORTH  WESTERN 

DIOCESE. 

I  vote  for  admonition. 

Had  I  been  permitted  yesterday  to  give  my  real  opinion,  I  would  have 
said  that  articles  1st,  3d,  5th,  6th,  7th,  and  8th,  were  not  proved,  according 
•to  the  Apostolic  rule,  1  Timothy,  v.  19,  by  which  I  consider  myself  bound 
to  judge  in  this  case. 

Article  2d,  Not  proved. 

Article  4th,  Not  proved  ;  no  evidence  being  brought  forward. 

And  I  would  have  added  in  reference  to  articles  7th  and  8th,  as  follows  : 
If  the  declarations  of  the  Bishop,  which  he  made  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Beare, 
had  been  considered  by  the  Reverend  gentlemen  who  were  present  on  that 
occasion,  an  acknowledgment  of  guilt,  they  were  solemnly  bound  to  pre- 
sent him  (the  said  Bishop)  for  trial ;  or,  at  all  events,  they  could  not  have 
agreed  to  bury  the  subject. 

JACKSON  KEMPER. 


25 


OPINION  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  WESTERN  NEW  i^OKK. 
In  the  name  of  God,  Amen. 

I,  William  H.  De  Lancey,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Western  New  York, 
do  hereby  declare,  that  in  my  opinion  the  Rt.  Rev.  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk, 
D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Diocese  of  New 
York,  who  has  been  presented  under  Canon  iii.  of  1844,  by  the  Rt.  Rev. 
William  Meade,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  Virginia,  the  Rt.  Rev.  James  H.  Otey, 
D.  D.,  Bishop  of  Tennessee,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Stephen  Elliott,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  Georgia,  as  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  in  several  specifi- 
cations, 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  first  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  second  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  third  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  fifth  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  sixth  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  seventh  arti- 
cle of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  eighth  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

And,  having  had  no  testimony  offered  against  him  in  support  of  the  spe- 
cification in  the  fourth  article  of  the  aforementioned  Presentment,  is  to  be 
held,  and  is  by  me,  believed  to  be  not  guilty  of  the  charge  of  immorality 
and  impurity  therein  alleged. 

Given  as  my  opinion,  in  Court  assembled  to  try  the  said  Rt.  Rev.  Benja- 
min T.  Onderdonk,  under  the  aforesaid  Presentment,  January  2,  1845. 

WILLIAM  H.  DE  LANCEY, 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Western  New  York. 

I  reserve  to  myself  the  right  to  put  on  the  records  of  the  Court,  if  I  should 
think  fit,  the  grounds  and  reasons  of  the  opinion. 

W.  H.  DE  LANCEY. 

New  York,  Jan.  2,  1845. 

4 


\ 


26 


GROUNDS 

OF  THE 

OPINION  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  WESTERN  NEW  YORK. 

Having  solemnly  declared  my  opinion  that  the  Right  Rev.  Benjamin 
Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York,  is  not 
guilty  of  the  charges  and  specifications  laid  against  him  in  the  Present- 
ment made  by  the  Right  Rev.  Wm.  Meade  of  Virginia,  the  Right  Rev. 
James  H.  Otey  of  Tennessee,  and  the  Right  Rev.  Stephen  Elliott  of 
Georgia  ;  and  having  claimed  the  right  to  put  on  the  records  of  the  Court 
the  grounds  and  reasons  of  my  opinion,  I  herein  set  forth  the  views,  prin- 
ciples, and  considerations,  which  have  led  me  to  the  opinion  which  I  have 
declared  in  this  case. 

I  bring  to  the  decision  of  the  question  no  aid  from  the  previous  know- 
ledge or  study  of  law,  or  the  practice  of  it  in  any  court. 

I  have  never  before  sat  on  any  ecclesiastical  tribunal.  My  guide  must 
be  the  plain  common  sense  which  God  has  given  me,  enlightened  by  the 
Scriptures  of  truth,  and  swayed  by  the  best  judgment  I  can  bring  to  bear 
upon  the  character  of  the  testimony  given,  and  the  force  of  the  circum- 
stances which  modify  its  influence  on  my  mind. 

It  must  be  admitted,  that  the  canon,  under  which  the  court  is  constituted 
and  compelled  to  act,  is,  in  many  respects,  defective.  It  leaves  unsettled  and 
even  untouched  many  most  important  points,  on  which  the  minds  of  mem- 
bers of  the  court  have  been  much  embarrassed.  It  fixes  no  rule  as  to  the 
number  of  witnesses  necessary  to  prove  a  charge.  It  fixes  no  rule  as  to 
the  limitation  of  time,  beyond  which  charges  are  to  be  regarded  as  stale 
and  undeserving  of  investigation.  It  is  somewhat  dubious  as  to  the  ques- 
tion, whether  the  Presenters  can  sit  as  judges.  It  gives  no  power  to  chal- 
lenge the  right  of  a  Bishop  to  act  as  juror  and  judge,  who  for  any  reason 
may  be  supposed  to  be  inimical  to  the  accused  party.  It  fixes  no  penalty 
for  witnesses  not  appearing,  when  summoned.  It  fails  to  explain  the 
meaning  of  the  term  "  suspension,"  or  whether  the  Court  can  limit  it  or 
not.  It  provides  no  mode  of  removing  the  sentence  of  suspension.  It 
compels  those,  who  think  an  arraigned  person  not  guilty,  to  vote  upon  the 
question  of  his  punishment.  It  puts  the  Presenters  in  the  attitude  of  accu- 
sers, committed  to  the  necessity  of  convicting  the  accused,  in  order  to 
justify  their  own  action  in  making  the  Presentment.  Under  such  a  Canon, 
we  have  been  compelled  to  grope  our  way  through  the  investigation  of 
this  case,  even  with  the  advantage  of  able  counsel  on  both  sides  ;  some- 
times as  the  analogy  of  courts  of  law  would  direct ;  sometimes  as  courts- 
martial  should  furnish  the  model ;  sometimes  as  the  common  law  would 
guide  us ;  sometimes  as  the  civil  law  would  point  out ;  sometimes  as  the 
ecclesiastical  law  would  dictate  ;  and  sometimes  (and  on  one  or  two  most 
important  particulars)  thrown  back  upon  the  direct  declarations  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  as  they  would  bear  upon  the  case. 


27 


The  Court  itself  bears  the  twofold  character  of  jury  to  try  the  cause, 
and  judge  to  expound  the  law. 

A  Presentment  is,  of  necessity,  founded  on  ex-parte  testimony.  In  this 
case,  but  one  or  two  of  the  parties  aggrieved  have  made  depositions  for 
themselves.  In  the  other  instances,  other  individuals  make  affidavits  of 
what  they  know,  not  of  themselves,  but  .«rom  the  aggrieved  parties.  Thus 
Mr.  Butler  and  Mr.  Beare  make  the  affidavits  of  the  alleged  insults  to  their 
wives,  respectively.  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Bolles,  Dr.  Hawks  makes  the  affi- 
davit on  which  the  Presentment  is  made.  The  mere  Presentment,  there- 
fore, proves  nothing,  except  as  its  allegations  may  be  supported  by  the 
testimony  adduced  on  the  trial.  But  the  affidavits  on  which  it  is  founded 
may,  in  my  opinion,  properly  be  used  as  tests  of  the  accuracy  and  credi- 
bility of  the  witnesses  concerned  ;  for,  if  they  swear  before  the  Court  dif- 
ferently from  what  they  did  in  their  affidavits  for  the  Presenters,  such  diver- 
sity must,  as  far  as  it  goes,  affect  unfavorably  their  testimony. 

The  Court  is  to  try  the  Presentment,  as  it  is  made.  It  has  no  power  to 
make  a  new  presentment.  It  can  decide  only,  whether  the  presentment  is 
made  according  to  the  Canon ;  whether  it  is  so  made,  that  the  charges  and 
specifications  can  be  tried.  And,  if  these  points  are  settled  affirmatively, 
it  is  to  hear  the  evidence ;  and,  having  deliberated  upon  it,  to  decide 
whether  the  accused  party  is,  or  is  not,  guilty  of  the  offences  as  presented  ; 
and,  if  guilty,  then  to  award  and  pronounce  the  sentence.  The  Canon 
seems  to  tie  down  the  Court  to  the  mere  question  of  guilty  or  not  guilty,  of 
the  offences  as  charged,  and  does  not  allow  of  saying  any  thing  but  yea  or 
nay  to  that  question. 

No  part  of  the  Presentment,  which  is  uncanonically  made,  can  properly 
bear  upon  that  part  which  is  canonical.  No  allegations,  rumors,  or  stories, 
which  exist  in  the  public  mind  out  of  the  Court,  can  be  allowed  to  have 
influence,  as  evidence,  upon  the  opinion  I  am  to  form  of  these  charges  and 
specifications.  They  are  to  be  decided  by  the  evidence  actually  produced 
in  relation  to  them ;  and  not  to  be  affected  by  any  proofs,  or  evidence,  or 
allegations  of  other  matters  of  a  similar  kind,  which  may  or  may  not  be 
true,  but  which  are  not  before  me  in  this  issue. 

Neither  the  suspicion,  nor  even  the  knowledge  of  bad  motives,  or  folly, 
or  mistake  in  the  ulterior  origin,  or  actual  getting  up  of  the  Presentment, 
either  on  the  part  of  the  Presenters  or  of  those  who  procured  and  laid  be- 
fore them  the  affidavits  on  which  it  is  founded,  or  of  those  who  directly  or 
indirectly  instigated,  suggested,  and  fostered  the  proceeding  in  its  remoter 
origin,  can  be  allowed  to  have  any  influence  in  judging  of  the  truth  of  the 
charges  and  specifications  in  the  form  and  shape  in  which  they  are  made 
in  the  Presentment.  Each  charge  and  specification  must  stand  on  its  own 
merits  and  claims  to  truth.  I  must  isolate  each  charge  and  specification, 
as  if  it  were  the  only  one  contained  in  the  Presentment,  and  try  its  truth  * 
by  itself, — by  its  own  testimony  and  circumstances, — by  what  applies  to 
it,  and  not  by  the  testimony  and  circumstances  which  belong  to  another 
distinct  charge  and  specification. 

Nor  can  the  deficient  proof  of  one  charge  and  specification  be  added  to 
the  deficient  proof  of  any  other  charge  and  specification,  in  order  that  to- 
gether they  may  amount  to  reliable  evidence,  any  more  than  the  putting 
together  of  half  a  dozen  paralytics  would  help  to  make  them  all  sound,  or 
even  to  make  one  sound  man. 

In  considering  the  testimony,  it  becomes  necessary  for  me  to  settle  in  my 


25 


own  mind  the  question,  as  to  the  number  of  witnesses  essential  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  each  charge  and  specification.  To  me  the  supreme  law  on 
this  subject  is  Holy  Scripture.  The  laws  of  man  may  vary  from  Scrip- 
ture on  this  point,  as  they  do  on  the  subject  of  marriage  and  divorce.  I 
could  not  concur  with  the  counsel  for  the  Presenters  in  declaring,  that  the 
law  of  God,  as  given  to  Moses,  was  not  so  good  for  the  elucidation  or  as- 
certainment of  truth,  as  the  common  law.  The  law  of  God  the  Father  in 
the  Old  Testament* — the  law  of  God  the  Son  in  the  New  Testament,!  as 
given  by  His  own  lips — and  the  law  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  given 
through  the  inspired  Apostle,  St.  Paul,  to  Timothy,  exacting  more  than  one 
witness,  appears  to  me  to  leave  me  no  option  in  requiring  at  least  twoj 
witnesses  to  each  charge  and  specification,  however  differently  the  vary- 
ing law  of  man  may  permit,  or  enjoin.  I  can  conceive  of  no  fair  exposi- 
tion, of  1  Timothy  v.  19,  "  Against  an  elder  receive  not  an  accusation, 
except  before  two  or  three  witnesses"  which  can  justify  me  in  disregarding 
so  explicit  an  injunction,  or  one  so  pertinently  and  obviously  applicable  to 
this  case.  Now  there  is  but  one  direct  witness  to  each  specification,  ex- 
cept as  to  the  second  article. 

When  I  come  to  qualify  this  testimony  of  each  single  witness,  by  the 
circumstances  attendant  on  the  transaction,  instead  of  finding  them  to  fur- 
nish the  weight  of  an  additional  witness,  they  seem  to  me  to  weaken  the 
allegations  of  the  single  witness  by  their  inconsistency  with  the  other  alle- 
gations, the  character,  and  the  very  nature  of  the  witness. 

The  question  being  a  question  of  the  extent  of  familiarities — Vhether  they 
were  such  as  of  necessity  imply  the  criminal,  impure,  and  immoral  feel- 
ings and  desires  on  the  part  of  the  Respondent,  which  form  the  gravamen 
of  the  charge  against  him ;  I  must  look  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
to  ascertain  whether  they  are  capable  of  an  interpretation  consistent  with 
purity  of  feeling ;  whether  they  actually  occurred  to  such  an  extent,  as 
of  necessity  and  unavoidably  to  infer  such  criminality ;  and  whether  the 
circumstances  and  conduct  of  the  parties  show,  that  they  were  so  inter- 
preted and  understood  by  the  aggrieved  individuals  at  the  time,  and  by 
those  to  whom  they  were  then  made  known. 

I  place  great  reliance  on  incidental  evidence — that  which  comes  out, 
as  a  necessary  and  unavoidable  inference,  from  acts  of  the  parties,  or  from 
their  omissions  to  act,  where  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  if  the  allega- 
tions were  true,  would  require  them  to  act.  Thus  the  law  of  virtue  and 
modesty  requires  resistance,  immediate  and  persevering,  to  the  extent  to 
which  the  power  of  the  party  can  go  against  aggression.  The  law  of  hon- 
esty requires  truth  to  be  told  firmly,  however  gently.  The  law  of  Chris- 
tian duty  forbids  connivance  at  crime,  just  as  I  understand  the  law  of  the 
land  forbids  compounding  felony.  If  the  acts  of  individuals — whose  virtue, 
honesty,  or  Christian  duty  is  assailed — conform  to  what  the  law  respec- 
tively requires,  it  confirms  the  testimony.  If  these  acts  and  proceedings 
do  not  so  conform — if  they  are  in  direct  hostility  to  what  this  law  of  vir- 
tue, honesty,  or  Christian  duty  would  require — then  to  my  mind  the  testi- 
mony of  the  witness  is  proportionably  weakened,  and  its  credibility  may 

*  Deut.  xvii.  6.    Numbers  xxxv.  30.    Deut  xix.  15. 
t  Matt,  xviii.  16.    John  viii.  17. 

t  The  Second  Canon  of  1802,  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York,  which  continued  in 
force  until  1834,  required  two  witnesses  to  substantiate  any  charge.  See  p.  118  of  On- 
derdonk's  Edition  of  2s .  Y.  Journals. 


29 

even  be  wholly  destroyed.  Thus,  if  persons  of  high  character  and  stand- 
ing in  the  Church  are  privy  to,  and  cotemporary  with  acts  in  the  Bishop 
which  appear  immoral,  and  have  the  power  of  presenting  him,  or  making 
an  effort  to  have  him  presented,  and  yet  do  not  take  such  step ;  I  must 
infer,  that  those  acts,  however  they  appear  now  to  have  been  immoral, 
could  not  in  reality  have  been  so,  or  he  would  have  been  then  arraigned 
and  tried.  The  fact,  that  they  were  not  noticed,  brought  to  light,  and  tried 
at  the  time,  by  those  whose  obvious  duty  it  was  to  take  such  steps,  and 
who  had  it  in  their  power  to  do  so,  forces  me  to  conclude,  either  that  the 
persons  were  connivers  at  the  immorality,  which  the  high  character  of  the 
parties  forbids — or  else,  that  the  acts  were  at  the  time  capable  of  a  con- 
struction not  implying  immorality  or  guilt ;  and,  if  they  were  so  at  the 
time,  the  mere  lapse  of  time  could  not  impart  an  immorality  to  them, 
which  they  did  not  then  have. 

Now,  since  the  year  1834,  the  Diocese  of  New  York  has  had  a  Canon  for 
the  trial  of  a  Bishop,  (see  Canon  xvii.  of  1834,  of  Diocese  of  New  York  ;) 
which  Canon  gives  to  the  Convention,  if  in  session,  and  to  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee during  the  recess  of  the  Convention,  the  power,  by  a  vote  of  two- 
thirds,  to  present  a  Bishop,  and  have  him  tried.  Since  1837  eight  Conven- 
tions have  been  held  in  this  Diocese,  and  no  steps  have  been  taken,  no  voice 
lifted,  no  vote  given,  no  motion  made  to  present  the  Respondent  by  the  clergy 
or  laity,  to  some  of  whom  these  various  alleged  criminal  acts  were  known. 
Could  they  have  been  deemed  so  unmoral,  so  criminal,  so  incapable  of  ex- 
planation, so  nakedly  outrageous  as  they  are  now  testified  to  be,  and  yet  not 
at  the  time  have  led  to  an  attempt  at  canonical  investigation  and  censure  by 
those  who  knew  all  about  them  ?  If  it  be  said  that  the  Convention  was  too 
cumbrous  or  uncertain  a  body  to  take  up  such  charges  and  act  upon  them, 
and  this  circumstance  deterred  them,  I  answer,  that,  during  the  recess  of  the 
Convention,  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese,  which  consists  of  eight 
persons,  viz:  four  clergymen  and  four  laymen,  have,  by  the  aforesaid 
Canon,  the  right  to  present.  If  it  be  said  that  the  acts  were  known  only  to 
a  few,  and  they  thought  it  best  to  say  nothing  about  them,  I  answer,  that  I 
must  believe  that  Dr.  Hawks,  Mr.  Lucas,  Mr.  Bolles,  Mr.  Butler,  in  1838, 
and  that  Drs.  Milnor,  Muhlenberg,  Wainwright,  Higbee,  Turner,  and  Messrs. 
Richmond,  Beare,  and  others,  have  not  only  failed  to  do  their  duty,  but  ac- 
tually conspired  (by  an  agreement  on  the  part  of  some  of  them,  in  regard 
to  the  case  of  Mrs.  Beare)  to  connive  at  the  criminality  of  the  Bishop,  and 
conceal  his  guilt.  Some  of  these  clergymen  have  been  members  of  the 
Convention  of  the  Diocese  again  and  again.  Can  I  now  declare  to  be  im- 
moral, impure,  and  criminal,  acts  which  transpired  from  two  and  a  half  to 
seven  and  a  half  years  ago,  when  they,  who  were  cotemporary  with  them, 
and  knew  them  in  all  their  aggravation,  whose  duty  it  was  to  have  them 
punished,  if  of  the  evil  nature  alleged,  and  who  were  members  of  the  very 
canonical  body  which  had  committed  to  it  the  power  and  duty  of  originating 
action  in  the  case,  did  at  the  time  omit  to  take,  urge,  or  recommend  any 
canonical  action  in  regard  to  them  ?  In  the  absence  of  all  evidence  that 
such  omission  was  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Respondent,  and  with  the  testi- 
mony before  us  of  his  uniform  denial  of  the  truth  of  these  rumors  as  alleged 
against  him  whenever  brought  to  his  notice,  he  is  entitled,  in  my  opinion, 
to  the  inference  in  his  favor  that  they  were  not,  at  the  time  of  the  occur- 
rence, of  the  criminal  extent  and  immoral  character  now  ascribed  to  them. 

It  is  in  favor  of  the  Respondent,  that  the  witnesses  are  not  volunteer  wit- 


30 


nesses;  that  they  come  reluctantly,  after  urging3;  that  some  of  them  have 
tried  to  avoid  being  brought  forward  in  connection  with  these  charges.  None 
of  them  seem  to  have  acted  or  come  forward  with  any  strong  conviction  of 
the  highly  criminal  and  immoral  character  of  the  Bishop's  acts,  as  charged 
in  the  specifications.  It  is  not  with  the  prompt  and  stern  sense  of  duty  to 
the  Church,  not  with  feelings  of  outraged  modesty  insisting  on  redress  and 
vindication,  that  they  appear.  They  are  dragged  into  Court.  While  the  re- 
luctance of  the  witnesses  to  come  forward  is  most  satisfactory  evidence  that 
they  are  not  knowingly  parties  to  any  conspiracy  in  this  case  against  the 
Bishop ;  it  does  at  the  same  time  as  forcibly  evince  to  my  mind,  that  the 
acts  alleged  could  not  have  been  of  so  clearly  outrageous  and  immoral  a 
nature  on  his  part  as  the  Presentment  declares,  or  there  would  have  been 
less  indisposition  to  appear  in  the  case. 

It  is  very  remarkable,  that  in  every  case  of  the  alleged  assaults  upon  the 
modesty  and  virtue  of  females,  third  parties  were  present  or  accessible  ;  and 
that  in  no  one  case  is  the  Respondent  testified  by  the  party  concerned  to  have 
been  resisted  as  effectually,  as  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case  he  might 
easily  have  been.  Mrs.  Butler  allows  the  Bishop  to  put  his  arm  about  her. 
Mr.  Butler  sees  him  in  the  position  several  times,  and  does  not  think  it 
worth  noticing,  though  he  thought  the  Bishop  overcome  with  wine  at  the  mo- 
ment : — That  is,  a  husband  sees  a  man  whom  he  believes  to  be  "  excited  by 
liquor"  embracing  his  wife  with  his  arm,  and  quietly  determines  that  he  will 
take  no  notice  of  it ;  when  a  word  on  his  part — a  single  word  of  even  re- 
spectful admonition—might  have  arrested  the  proceeding  and  all  its  conse- 
quents !  Christian  duty  may  account  for  the  forbearance  from  anger  and 
excitement  on  the  occasion  :  it  does  not  account  for  his  utter  silence.  Mrs. 
Butler's  overstrained  and  enigmatical  language  about  the  Bishop's  hand  is 
not  only  contrary  to  all  nature,  as  a  reproach  or  rebuke  for  criminal  fami- 
liarity with  her  person,  but  might  have  been  called  forth  by  the  most  inno- 
cent freedom,  that  paternal  manners  and  fatherly  intimacy  with  the  lady 
would  allow.  In  the  case  of  Miss  Helen  M.  Rudderow,  a  single  word  to 
Mr.  Richmond  would  have  intercepted  and  ended  the  most  extraordinary 
continuance,  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  in  an  half-open  carriage,  on  a  public 
highway,  during  a  general  conversation  in  which  all  the  persons  more  or 
less  partook,  of  the  alleged  insult.  She  says  she  felt  like  jumping  out  of 
the  carriage,  if  she  could  have  done  it,  to  save  herself  from  the  Bishop's 
hand ;  and  yet  she  could  not  speak  a  single  word  to  preserve  her  person 
from  insult,  though  at  the  very  time  engaged  in  conversation  on  general  to- 
pics, both  with  Mr.  R.  and  the  Bishop !  She  feared  to  expose  the  Bishop  to 
Mr.  Richmond  !  She  would  have  exposed  him  to  Mr.  R.  by  jumping  out 
of  the  carriage,  as  in  her  cross-examination  she  says  she  attempted  to  do, 
but  was  afraid  to  expose  him  by  a  word,  which  would  have  been  equally  ef- 
fectual. In  the  case  of  Miss  Jane  O.  Rudderow,  by  simply  rising  and  leav- 
ing the  room  after  the  first  alleged  insult,  or  by  speaking  in  a  tone  to  attract 
her  brothers'  attention,  or  by  calling  them  in  without  actually  exposing  the 
Bishop  to  their  indignation,  (the  thing  she  says  she  was  afraid  of,  and  gives 
as  the  reason  for  making  no  outcry,)  she  had  been  safe.  But  she,  too,  is 
silent.  In  the  case  of  Mrs.  Beare,  the  same  extraordinary  silence  under  a 
most  aggravated  alleged  insult  is  preserved  :  when  a  word,  even  an  offer  to 
take  a  seat  by  the  side  of  her  husband,  and  place  the  boy  behind  with  the 
Bishop,  would  have  shielded  her  entirely.  To  me  all  this  appears  compati- 
ble only  with  a  very  limited  extent  of  familiarity ;  and  wholly  unaccounta- 


31 


ble,  if  the  familiarity  was  actually  of  the  criminal  nature  and  extent  al- 
leged. 

I  listened  with  attention  to  the  analysis  of  the  testimony  by  the  learned 
counsel  on  both  sides,  and  regard  it  as  unnecessary  here  to  review  the  same 
in  detail.  Granting  all  allowance  to  the  ordinary  character  of  human  tes- 
timony, which  is  substantial  truth  with  circumstantial  variety,  yet  the  vari- 
ations of  the  testimony  from  the  precise  charges  of  the  affidavits  and  the 
Presentment,  the  looseness  of  some  of  the  allegations,  the  inconsistency  of 
the  gravity  of  the  charges  with  the  quiescent  conduct  of  the  witnesses  under 
the  alleged  insults,  the  subsequent  intercourse  of  almost  all  the  insulted 
parties  with  the  Respondent  characterized  by  cordiality,  or  at  least  by  no 
change  in  demeanor  towards  him,  and  the  fact  that  each  specification  except 
one  rested  upon  the  testimony  of  a  single  direct  witness,  could  not  but  im- 
press me  with  the  conviction  that  these  matters  were  resolvable  into  exag- 
gerations of  such  familiarities  as  are  liable  to  misinterpretation  and  highly 
imprudent,  but  not  implying  of  necessity  the  guilty  criminality  which  the  Pre- 
sentment charges.  I  could  not  but  be  struck  with  the  fact,  that  the  charges  in 
the  affidavits  were  stronger  than  those  in  the  Presentment ;  that  the  terms  of 
the  Presentment  were  stronger  than  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  ;  so  that 
there  was  a  sort  of  diminishing  or  vanishing  scale  of  allegations  in  the  case, 
the  lowest  and  weakest  point  of  which  was  the  actual  testimony  produced. 

No  word  or  look  of  a  corrupt,  impure,  or  unbecoming  character  is  alleged 
by  any  of  the  witnesses  to  have  accompanied  the  familiarities  complained 
of — a  circumstance,  constituting  in  my  view  additional  evidence  of  the  ab- 
sence from  them  of  an  impure  and  immoral  character,  and  that  they  were 
not  of  the  criminal  extent  alleged. 

That  imprudences  do  not  imply  immorality,  and  that  even  acts  which 
bear  the  appearance  of  crime  may  yet  be  devoid  of  the  reality,  is  the 
ground  taken  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  consisting  of  Bishops  Mcllvaine, 
M'Coskry,  and  Kemper,  which  sat  in  October,  1837,  in  the  case  of  the  pre- 
sent Bishop  of  Kentucky,  (the  only  trial  of  a  Bishop  hitherto  known  in  this 
country,)  and  which  declared  him  guilty  in  several  instances  of  the  act  as 
specified,  but  without  criminality — even  using  in  reference  to  the  second 
charge,  embracing  forty-two  specifications  and  affecting  moral  character, 
in  one  case  the  following  language,  "  Guilty  of  a  careless  and  unauthorized 
statement,  but  acquitted  of  insincerity and  in  another  case,  "  Guilty  of 
the  facts  alleged ;  an  evil  motive  not  appearing,  but  indiscretion  manifest;" 
and  in  another  case,  "  Guilty  of  inconsistency,  reconcilable,  however,  with 
honesty and  in  another  case,  "  Guilty  in  this,  that  the  facts  alleged  are 
true,  and  the  Court  cannot  reconcile  them  with  propriety  or  justice.  It  is 
believed,  however,  that  the  accused  did  not  urge  his  view  with  regard  to 
the  money  after  it  was  objected  to and,  in  five  other  instances,  "  Guilty 
without  criminality — incautious  language  is  proved  without  evidence  of 
wrong  intention  ;"  and  finally  upon  the  whole  charge,  as  covering  the  pre- 
ceding specifications,  declaring  as  follows,  viz  :  "  After  mature  considera- 
tion of  the  evidence  to  the  several  specifications  under  charge  2d,  the  Court 
find  the  accused  not  guilty  of  the  charge  ;  at  the  same  time  that  they  can- 
not acquit  him  of  having  sometimes,  in  seasons  of  mental  excitement,  used 
language  in  a  manner  so  careless  and  indiscreet  as  naturally  to  expose  him 
to  a  suspicion  of  insincerity,  which  a  wide  spread  and  long  established  re- 
putation contradicts."* 

*  See  "  Sentence  of  the  Court  in  the  case  of  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese  of  Ken- 
tucky, vs.  the  Rt.  Rev.  B.  B.  Smith,  D.  D.» 


32 


That  general  good  character  should  weigh  down  mere  rumors  and  un- 

sustained  allegations,  appears  to  me  to  be  obviously  proper.  How  far  it 
should  weigh  against  even  sworn  statements  of  transactions  of  old  date, 
it  is  difficult  to  say.  That  it  should  have  some  weight  is,  I  believe,  al- 
lowed. In  the  case  of  the  consecration  of  the  present  Senior  Bishop, 
many  years  ago,  as  Bishop  of  Ohio,  against  whom  an  affidavit  of  some 
highly  improper,  not  to  say  criminal  act  was  produced  by  respectable 
parties,  the  late  Bishop  White  took  this  very  ground,  and  would  not  op- 
pose the  consecration  on  account  of  such  affidavits ;  holding  that  testimo- 
^  nials  produced  to  the  general  good  character  of  the  clergyman  assailed, 
were  a  sufficient  security  that  there  must  be  some  mistake  or  misappre- 
hension in  the  matter.  In  this  view  he  is  said  to  have  had  the  sanction 
of  the  late  Judge  Washington,  to  whom  he  submitted  the  grounds  of  his 
opinion.* 

In  looking  to  the  respective  characters  of  the  Respondent  and  the  ag- 
grieved parties,  I  do  not  institute  any  comparison  in  favor  of  either.  The 
Respondent  is  a  Bishop,  and  they  are  communicants.  Both  are  to  be  be- 
lieved as  declaring  what  they  think  to  be  truth.  They  affirm — the  Bishop 
denies.  Abstractedly,  I  put  them  on  an  equality.  I  ask  myself,  then,  has 
the  Bishop's  conduct  been  consistent  with  his  denial  ?  I  must  answer,  yes. 
A  uniform  denial  of  these  charges  as  idle  tales,  and  a  treatment  of  the 
parties  with  no  variation  of  manner  or  intercourse,  braving  investigation  for 
years,  openly  and  boldly  exposing  himself,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  to 
obloquy  and  ill  feeling  from  some  who  harbored  the  evil  reports,  not  re- 
strained by  any  apparent  fear  of  offending  and  irritating  them  by  avowal  of 
views  of  theology  or  policy  to  which  they  were  known  to  be  inimical — this 
appears  to  me  to  be  the  conduct  of  a  man  not  conscious  of  liability  to  crim- 
inal charges  being  brought  against  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  how  has  it  been  with  the  aggrieved  parties  in  this  case  ? 
Has  their  conduct  been  consistent  with  their  affirmations  1  I  cannot  say, 
yes.  They  have  repeated  their  respective  stories  again  and  again  in  pri- 
vate, alleging  grievous  insult ;  and  yet,  not  only  have  taken  no  steps  (ex- 
cept in  the  cases  of  Mrs.  Beare  and  Mr.  Bolles)  to  confront  the  Bishop 
themselves,  or  have  him  confronted  by  their  friends,  much  less  have  they 
sought  to  have  the  charges  officially  investigated  by  any  proper  tribunal ; 
but  they  now  most  reluctantly  come  forward  in  the  case,  and,  although  en- 
tirely independent  on  the  Bishop  in  every  matter,  are,  by  the  influence  of 
others,  dragged  into  Court,  to  testify  responsibly  what  they  have  so  often 
avowed  on  the  irresponsibility  of  private  allegation ;  and  not  only  so,  but 
have,  after  the  alleged  insults,  every  one  of  them,  (except  Mrs.  Butler,  who 
never  met  him  again,)  treated  the  offending  party  with  more  or  less  respect, 
and  maintained  more  or  less  of  a  continued  intimacy  or  intercourse  with  him. 

If,  then,  on  a  comparison  of  the  allegations  of  the  two  parties,  I  should 
incline  to  place  more  reliance  on  the  denial  than  on  the  affirmation,  I  do 
but  conform  to  what  appears  to  me  to  be  the  dictate  of  common  sense. 

In  the  case  of  the  events  testified  to  by  Mr.  Bolles,  they  were  brought  to 
the  Bishop's  knowledge  by  Mr.  Bolles  and  Dr.  Hawks,  on  the  urgent  ad- 
vice of  Dr.  Taylor ;  and  the  result  was  at  once  so  to  strip  the  charge  of 
the  aggravations  connected  with  it,  and  to  reduce  it  from  crime  to  impru- 
dence, that  now  the  Court  does  not  hesitate,  on  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Bolles 
himself,  to  acquit  the  Bishop. 


*  For  this  statement  I  am  indebted  to  Bishop  Kemper. 


33 


In  the  case  of  Mrs.  Beare,  the  alleged  immoralities  were  brought,  to  the 
Bishop's  notice  ;  and  the  result  was,  after  an  interview  between  the  Bishop 
and  Mr.  Beare  on  the  subject,  in  the  presence  of  sundry  clergymen,  that 
Mr.  B.  and  the  gentlemen  present,  on  no  solicitation  of  the  Bishop,  come 
to  an  understanding  with  each  other,  that  no  further  steps  are  to  be  taken  in 
the  case  ;  and  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beare  not  only  treat  him  with  respect, 
but  extend  to  him  the  hospitality  of  their  house.  So  that,  whenever  the 
Bishop  has  been  confronted  by  these  charges  at  the  time,  it  resulted  in  such 
explanations  as  to  avert  the  idea  of  criminality. 

I  do  not  consider  the  uniformity  of  the  Bishop's  denial  of  these  charges 
as  affected  by  what  passed  at  the  interview  in  relation  to  Mrs.  Beare's 
case.  *At  the  first  interview,  all  the  witnesses  testify  to  a  distinct  denial. 
At  the  second  interview  it  does  not  appear  that  the  charges  were  dis- 
tinctly renewed  in  such  a  form  as  to  call  for  distinct  denial.  The  ques- 
tion of  Mr.  Beare  was,  in  substance,  as  to  the  Bishop's  denial  of  his  wife's 
veracity.  The  answer  of  the  Bishop  was  naturally  directed  to  softening 
the  absolute  denial  of  her  veracity  into  a  form  which  would  not  irritate 
and  exasperate  Mr.  Beare  by  a  new  issue  as  to  his  wife's  credibility. 
He  tells  him  that  he  would  not  question  his  wife's  veracity,  but  that 
there  is  some  mistake  or  misapprehension  in  the  matter.  I  do  not  think 
that  this  can  fairly  be  considered  a  shrinking  from  his  denial  of  the  al- 
leged insults,  and  certainly  is  not,  in  my  judgment,  to  be  taken  as  a  con- 
fession of  guilt. 

The  charge  of  drunkenness,  or,  as  it  is  worded,  of  being  "  improperly 
excited  by  vinous  or  spirituous  liquors,"  I  regard  as  disproved  by  inci- 
dental testimony  in  relation  to  Mr.  Peck,  as  it  fell  from  Mrs.  Butler.  The 
circumstances  which  proved  to  Mr.  B.  and  Mrs.  B.  that  the  Bishop  was  in 
the  condition  alleged,  were  his  tainted  breath,  his  high  spirits,  his  thick- 
ness of  speech,  and  his  talkativeness.  Now  of  all  these  Mr.  Peck,  being 
in  the  carriage,  was  as  cognizant  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  They  were  as  per- 
ceptible to  him  certainly  as  to  Mr.  B.,  who  was  on  the  front  seat  beside 
Mr.  Peck.  Moreover,  Mrs.  Butler  testifies  that  Mr.  Peck  was  peculiarly 
sensitive  to  improprieties  of  professing  Christians ;  that  such  improprieties 
constituted  the  obstacle  to  his  conversion  ;  and  it  is  obvious  that  both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  B.  were  very  anxious  that  a  good  impression  should  be  made 
upon  Mr.  Peck  by  the  Bishop,  as  Mr.  P.  had  recently  connected  himself 
with  the  Episcopal  Church.  From  Mr.  Peck's  state  of  mind,  then,  it  is  to 
be  supposed  that  he  would  be  alive  to  any  impropriety,  and  instantly  re- 
pelled in  disgust  from  the  Episcopal  Church,  by  the  knowledge  of  so  gross 
an  instance  of  it  in  the  Bishop,  as  partial  or  even  suspected  drunkenness. 
But  was  this  the  case  ?  Mrs.  Butler  says  explicitly,  No  !  To  the  ques- 
tion, "  Did  the  driver"  (Mr.  Peck)  "  continue  to  be  connected  with  the 
Parish  ?"  her  answer  is,  "  He  did."  To  my  mind  the  inference  is  plain, 
that  the  account  of  the  condition  of  the  Respondent  is  exaggerated  by  the 
witnesses.  The  thickness  of  speech  is  explained  by  his  having  preached 
twice,  instituted  a  clergyman,  and  held  a  confirmation  that  very  day,  be- 
fore the  ride  commenced.  A  single  glass  of  wine  would  have  produced 
the  tainted  breath.  And  the  talkativeness  and  high  spirits,  somewhat  in- 
consistent with  thickness  of  speech,  are  easily  resolvable  into  the  well 
known  cheerful  and  courteous  disposition  of  the  Respondent,  and  his  meet- 
ing with  the  recently  married  son  and  daughter  of  his  old  friends,  and  who 
had  ridden  fifty  miles  to  meet  him  ;  the  lady  herself  having  always  been 


I 


34 

regarded  and  treated  by  him  as  a  daughter,  and  for  the  ordination  of  whose 
husband  he  was  to  take  a  journey  of  fifty  miles  by  night. 

The  result  of  the  whole  view  of  the  case  has  been,  not  only  to  make 
me  doubt  of  the  guilt  of  the  Respondent,  (and  with  a  doubt  upon  my  mind, 
I  could  not  be  justified  in  pronouncing  him  guilty,)  but  also  to  satisfy  me 
that  there  was  no  such  testimony,  supporting  each  charge  and  specifica- 
tion, as  the  Scripture  to  my  mind  requires  me  to  exact,  in  order  to  convict 
a  Christian  brother  of  criminal,  impure,  and  immoral  conduct,  as  charged 
and  specified  in  this  Presentment. 

While,  therefore,  I  can  see  in  the  conduct  of  the  Bishop  on  these  several 
occasions  much  to  condemn,  as  imprudent,  foolish,  and  likely  to  be  misun- 
derstood and  misrepresented  to  the  injury  of  the  Church  ;  yet  not  seeing 
in  it  satisfactory  proof  of  an  extent  of  familiarity,  implying  criminal  and 
immoral  and  impure  desires  or  designs,  as  charged  in  the  Presentment,  I 
have  answered,  (my  conscience  and  judgment  concurring,)  to  the  question 
propounded  by  the  canon  in  regard  to  each  charge  and  specification  as  laid 
in  the  Presentment,  that  in  my  opinion  the  Respondent  is  not  guilty. 

The  sentence  of  suspension  pronounced  upon  the  Respondent  was  voted 
for  by  me,  because,  although  declaring  him  not  guilty,  the  Canon  requires 
me,  as  one  of  the  members  of  the  Court,  to  vote  upon  the  question  of  what 
penalty  shall  be  awarded  to  the  accused  party,  when  found  guilty  by  a 
majority  of  the  Court.  The  question  of  guilty  or  not  guilty  is  one  ques- 
tion, on  which  the  whole  Court  must  vote.  The  question,  whether,  if  de- 
clared guilty,  he  shall  be  admonished,  suspended,  or  degraded,  is  another 
question,  on  which  also  the  whole  Court  must  vote.  Believing  him  not 
guilty,  I  must,  if  compelled  to  vote,  give  my  vote  for  the  lowest  degree  of 
punishment,  viz.,  admonition.  Failing  to  procure  that  award,  and  compel- 
led to  vote  on  the  question  again,  I  vote  for  the  next  lowest  degree  of  pun- 
ishment, viz.,  suspension,  in  which  a  majority  of  the  Court  having  concur, 
red,  it  becomes  the  canonical  penalty  awarded  by  the  Court.  Failing  also 
to  obtain  from  the  Court  a  limitation  of  the  sentence  to  one  year,  and  to  al- 
low him  the  private  exercise  of  his  ministry  ;  I  am  compelled  to  acquiesce 
in  the  final  decision  of  a  majority  of  the  Court ;  which  suspends  the  Right 
Rev.  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  from  the  exercise  of  his  office 
as  Bishop,  and  from  his  ministerial  functions. 

W.  H.  DE  LANCEY, 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Western  New  York. 

Note. — I  wish  to  put  on  record,  also,  that  I,  with  others,  opposed  the 
•publication  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Court,  and  of  the  testimony  in  the 
case ;  because,  however  much  it  might  favor  the  Respondent,  by  showing 
the  precise  extent  of  the  charges  and  the  actual  character  of  the  testimony, 
to  publish  them,  such  publication  would  tend  to  injure  the  very  moral  and 
religious  feeling  of  the  Church  and  of  the  community,  which  the  act  of  dis- 
cipline upon  the  Respondent  was  designed  to  promote.  The  majority  of 
the  Court  decided  otherwise. 

W.  H.  DE  LANCEY. 


35 


OPINION  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

The  Bishop  of  South  Carolina  gives  his  opinion  as  follows  : 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  our  brother  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  from  early 
manhood  to  the  present  time,  when  he  has  passed  the  meridian  of  life,  has 
been  unreservedly  and  zealously  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  Church  ;  and 
that  he  has  been,  and  continues  to  be,  eminently  useful.  But  there  is  "no 
man  that  sinneth  not,"  and  there  are  sins  which  do  "easily  beset  us  and 
if  one  person  be  liable  to  sins  of  the  flesh,  another  to  sins  of  the  world, 
covetousness  or  ambition,  and  a  third  to  sins  of  the  devil,  falsehood  or  slan- 
der, "  envy,  hatred,  malice,  and  all  uncharitableness,"  it  is  not  for  man  to 
decide  which  is  the  greater  sin.  If  the  acts  of  sin  be  repented  of,  the  indi- 
vidual cannot  truly  be  called  an  immoral  man ;  and  the  evidences  of  a  true 
repentance  are,  habitual  public  confession  of  sin  and  supplication  for  pardon, 
the  stated  participation  of  the  holy  communion,  and  amendment  of  life,  or 
in  other  words,  living  "  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly." 

With  respect  to  the  specifications  before  us,  (except  one,  in  a  modified 
degree,  explained  in  my  vote,)  I  believe  our  brother  is  not  guilty.  As  to 
the  two  most  serious  specifications — to  suppose  a  man  would  attempt  the 
virtue  (for  it  amounts  to  that)  of  a  wife  in  the  presence,  hearing,  and  close 
by  her  newly-married  young  husband,  is  preposterous  and  ridiculous. 

Such  a  suspicion  might  possibly  be  entertained  of  a  madman,  or  a  fool, 
or  a  reckless  creature,  entirely  without  character.  "  Quern  Deus  vultperdere 
prius  demented."  But  who  questions,  in  the  present  instance,  the  vigor  of 
intellect,  the  experience  of  life,  the  tried  integrity,  the  piety,  charity,  and 
self-denial. 

The  beginning  of  this  prosecution  was  not  right.  The  first  movement 
was  rumor,  (created  and  fanned,  as  I  believe,  by  carelessness,  or  folly,  or 
dislike,  or  revenge,)  which  has  existed  for  several  years,  but  the  most  part 
of  it  never  met  my  ear  until  in  or  after  February,  1844  ;  and  I  understood 
the  said  rumor  had  been  in  circulation  among  the  members  of  the  Conven- 
tion of  the  Diocese  of  South  Carolina,  which  was  held  in  that  month.  The 
second  movement  was  previous  to,  or  during,  the  sitting  of  the  General 
Convention,  which  was  in  October,  1844. 

The  first  ostensible  movers  to  direct  action,  were  not  the  persons  who 
considered  themselves  aggrieved  ;  nor  were  they  members  of  the  Diocese 
of  New  York,  especially  obligated  and  interested  in  the  matter,  but  of  three 
other  Dioceses.  The  Jirst  application  for  redress  was  not,  as  it  should  have 
been,  to  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York,  but  to  the  House  of 
Bishops,  which  had  no  authority  in  the  case.  This  course  of  proceeding 
appears  to  me  unfavorable  to  truth  and  justice,  and  to  the  sacred  independ- 
ence of  each  Diocese  ;  and  too  favorable  to  party  spirit,  and  to  schism. 

The  Presentment,  in  addition  to  "  immorality,"  names  "  impurity," 
which  is  not  named  in  the  Canon,  and  therefore  ought  not  to  have  been 
named  in  the  Presentment.  The  allegations  characterize  the  acts  in  a  way 
which  prejudges  the  accused,  and  adopt  epithets  which  are  indefinite,  or 
relate  to  manners,  not  to  morals.    The  alleged  offences  are  of  so  old  a  date, 


\ 


36 


that  charity  requires  us  to  believe,  if  they  were  committed,  they  have  been 
repented  of. 

The  Apostle  Peter's  great  sin  being  repented  of,  was  not  only  forgiven, 
but  he  was  permitted  to  retain  his  high  office  ;  and  who  will  say  that  he  did 
not  exercise  it  to  edification  ?  Charges  of  old  date  cannot  be  investigated 
satisfactorily,  by  reason  of  the  death  or  removal  of  material  witnesses,  and 
of  the  imperfection  of  human  memory,  and  perhaps  the  inveteracy  of  preju- 
dice. 

The  circumstances,  in  this  case,  constitute  an  a  priori  argument  of  great 
weight — such  as  the  character  and  age  of  the  Respondent,  his  paternal 
official  relation  to  the  parties,  the  place  and  the  time — which  authorize  the 
belief  that  there  must  be  misunderstanding  or  misconstruction.  Holy 
Scripture  (1  Thess.  v.  22)  sanctions  the  distinction  between  evil  and  that 
which  may  have  the  appearance  of  it.  Familiar  manners  are  peculiarly 
liable  to  misunderstanding,  by  persons  who  may  have  adopted  ascetic  or 
blue  law,  or  other  overstrained  notions  of  morality — by  persons  under  the 
influence  of  prejudice — and  in  those  places,  and  at  those  times,  where  and 
when  there  exists  a  fierce  conflict  of  opinion,  and  feeling,  and  interest ;  for 
example,  at  times  of  political  excitement,  in  our  own  country,  persons  of 
character,  till  then  unimpeached,  and  truly  unimpeachable,  have  been 
charged  with  the  most  improbable,  gross,  and  unnatural  crimes. 

The  witnesses  to  all  the  specifications  as  to  which  the  verdict  was 
"guilty,"  were  the  very  persons  who  considered  themselves  injured, 
and  who,  having  made  affidavits  or  statements  out  of  Court,  were  under 
strong  temptation  to  sustain  them,  and  therefore  cannot  reasonably  be  con- 
sidered impartial  witnesses  ;  and  moreover,  their  testimony  before  the 
Court,  their  statements,  as  set  down  in  the  Presentment,  their  affidavits, 
letters  produced,  and  conversations  attested,  exhibit  discrepancies  in  seve- 
ral very  important  particulars. 

The  conduct  of  the  complainants  at  the  time  of,  and  subsequent  to,  the 
alleged  improprieties,  has  been  remarkably  inconsistent  and  difficult  to  be 
explained. 

All  the  specifications  except  one,  viz.,  the  second,  were  attempted  to  be 
proved  by  the  testimony  of  one  person  ;  and  the  very  attempt  was  wrong, 
being  contrary  to  the  injunction  of  the  Apostle  Paul  to  the  Bishop  at  Ephe-, 
sus — "  Against  an  elder  receive  not  an  accusation  but  before  two  or  three 
witnesses." — (1  Tim.  iv.  19.)  And  the  Divine  Wisdom,  under  the  old 
dispensation,  laid  down  this  rule.  "  One  witness  shall  not  rise  up  against  a 
man  for  any  iniquity,  or  for  any  sin :  at  the  mouth  of  two  witnesses,  or  at  the 
mouth  of  three  witnesses,  shall  the  matter  be  established."  (Deut.  xix.  15; 
xv.  17  ;  Numb.  xxxv.  30.)  To  this  authority  the  apostolical  Canon,  the 
75th,  defers.  An  heretic  is  not  to  be  received  against  a  Bishop,  neither 
only  one  believer,  for  "  in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  shall  every 
word  be  established."  It  cannot  be  said,  that  although  there  was  but  one 
witness  for  each  act,  yet  there  were  circumstances  corroborating  her  tes- 
timony ;  even  if  this  were  true,  still  there  would  be  only  one  witness,  and 
Holy  Scripture  demands  two  witnesses  :  and  the  credibility  of  each  one 
must  be  fortified  by  circumstances,  or  it  will  be  questionable.  But  in  the 
present  instance  the  circumstances  went  to  discredit  the  witness — that  is, 
to  manifest  defect  of  memory,  or  of  prudence,  or  of  consistency. 

It  might  be  asked,  are  the  memory  and  judgment  of  the  material  wit- 
nesses to  be  regarded  as  infallible  ?    Were  they  perfectly  free  from  pre- 


37 


judice  ?  from  the  strongest  of  prejudices — that  connected  with  party  the- 
ology ?  Are  they  to  be  supposed  capable  of  drawing  the  line  of  demarca- 
tion with  perfect  accuracy  between  manners  and  morals — evil,  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  it  ?  Have  they  in  the  beginning  and  progress  of  this  matter,  • 
at  all  times  manifested  the  charity  which  thinketh  no  evil  ?  Is  it  given  to 
any  mortal  to  discern  the  thoughts  and  intents  ?  Are  we  not  told,  "  The 
Lord  seeth  not  as  man  seeth.  The  Lord  (that  is,  he  only,  he  exclusively) 
looketh  at  the  heart."  (1  Sam.  xvi.  7.)  Are  we  not  enjoined,  "Judge 
not  according  to  the  appearance  V  (John  vii.  24.)  The  scribes  and 
Pharisees  did  not  charge  the  person  in  John  viii.  3,  on  suspicion,  or  on  the 
ground  of  a  doubtful  act. 

But  waiving  the  scrutiny  of  the  testimony,  and  the  considerations  named, 
the  undersigned  insists  that  each  act  from  which  it  was  attempted  to  prove 
immorality,  each  act  which  gives  any  the  least  color  to  the  imputation  of 
impure  feeling,  has  but  one  witness.  In  its  sternness  the  common  law  al- 
lows of  a  single  witness.  But  an  ecclesiastical  court  ought  to  be  govern- 
ed by  the  law  of  Scripture — the  more  strictly  just  law  of  the  civil  code. 
It  is  inconsistent  with  justice  and  humanity  to  create  a  precedent  for  al- 
lowing character  to  be  sworn  away  by  one  person.  And  we  have  a  sol- 
emn warning  how  dangerous  it  is  to  depart  from  the  scriptural  rule,  in  a 
late  trial,  when  a  Presbyter  was  convicted  of  a  gross  crime,  and  ruined  in 
property  by  the  secular  court,  on  the  testimony  of  one  person ;  and  it 
has  since  been  fully  established  that  he  was  entirely  without  guilt. 

Good  will  come  to  our  brother  from  this  prosecution,  for  "it  is  good  to  be 
afflicted."  No  good  will  come  to  our  ecclesiastical  confederacy.  I  pray 
God  that  much  evil  may  not  come  to  it ;  that  it  may  not  be  shaken  to  its 
very  centre  by  the  proceedings  and  decision  in  this  prosecution. 

The  occasion  reminds  us  to  cling  with  tenacity  to,  and  to  be  thankful  for, 
the  divinely-ordered,  the  essential  independence  of  each  Diocese  ;  and  for  the 
blessed  promise  to  (not  a  particular  Church,  or  association  of  Churches, 
which  may  pass  away,  but  to)  the  Church  Catholic — the  Church  regarded 
as  one — that  she  shall  outlive  every  shock,  under  the  protection,  and  gui- 
dance, and  favor  of  the  divine  Head  and  Lord. 

C.  E.  GADSDEN, 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  South  Carolina. 

Note.  It  has  been  published  in  a  pamphlet  as  follows  :  "  On  the  first  or 
second  day  of  the  Convention,  our  Bishop  was  informed,  in  the  presence  of 
several  of  his  Presbyters,  in  the  vestry-room  of  St.  Michael's  Church,  that 
a  resolution,  requesting  the  Trustees  from  our  Diocese,  to  move  in  the  Board 
an  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the  Seminary,  would  probably  be  proposed,"  &c. 

Never,  till  I  read  that  pamphlet,  did  I  know  there  was  any  the  least  con- 
nection with  that  "inquiry"  and  the  moral  character  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Pro- 
fessor. I  thought,  up  to  this  time,  (Jan.,  1845,)  that  the  inquiry,  and  "  the 
rumor"  referred  to  in  the  resolution  of  the  Convention,  had  exclusive  ref- 
erence to  errors  in  theology. 


38 


OPINION  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  MARYLAND. 

Having  been,  as  I  think,  improperly  hindered  from  making  the  following 
declaration  of  opinion,  at  the  time  prescribed  by  the  Canon,  I  avail  myself 
of  the  opportunity  allowed,  before  passing  to  sentence,  to  read  it,  with  a 
view  to  its  thus  obtaining  a  place  on  the  record  of  the  Court. 

W.  R.  WHITTINGHAM. 

In  the  Name  of  God,  Amen. 

In  my  opinion  the  Rt.  Reverend  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Diocese  of  New  York, 
having  been  presented  by  the  Right  Reverend  William  Meade,  D.  D.,  Bish- 
op of  Virginia  ;  the  Ri^ht  Reverend  James  Hervey  Otey,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of 
Tennessee;  and  the  Right  Reverend  Stephen  Elliott,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of 
Georgia,  as  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity  in  several  specifications  ; — 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  first  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment: 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  second  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment: 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  third  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment  : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  fifth  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  sixth  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  seventh  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

Is  not  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  eighth  article 
of  the  aforementioned  Presentment : 

And  having  had  no  testimony  offered  against  him  in  support  of  the  spe- 
cifications in  the  fourth  article  of  the  aforementioned  Presentment,  is  to  be 
held,  and  is  by  me  believed,  to  be  not  guilty  of  the  charge  of  immorality 
and  impurity  therein  alleged. 

Given  as  my  judgment,  in  the  Court  assembled  in  the  case,  this  second 
day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  fortv-five. 

WILLIAM  ROLLINSON  WHITTINGHAM, 

Bishop  of  Maryland. 

The  reasons  of  the  above  opinion  and  judgment,  it  is  my  intention  to  fur- 
nish hereafter,  for  entry  upon  the  record  of  the  Court. 

WILLIAM  ROLLINSON  WHITTINGHAM, 

Bishop  of  Maryland. 


39 


Reasons  for  the  Opinion  of  the  Bishop  of  Maryland,  in  the  case  of  the 
Presentment  against  the  Rt.  Rev.  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk, 
Bishop  of  New  York. 

The  Presentment  against  the  Bishop  of  New  York  comes  before  me  bur- 
dened with  many  improbabilities,  which  must  be  taken  into  account  in 
weighing  the  testimony  by  which  it  is  supported.  Among  these  I  do  not 
reckon  the  improbability  of  heinous  transgression  on  the  part  of  one  so  high 
in  office  in  the  Church.  That  has  its  weight ;  but  its  weight  is  no  greater 
in  this  case  than  it  must  be  in  the  case  of  any  Presentment  against  a 
Bishop  for  crime  or  immorality.  The  improbabilities  now  in  view,  are  pe- 
culiar to  the  present  case. 

The  Presentment  sets  forth  immorality  and  impurity  as  a  prevalent  dis- 
position of  mind,  evidenced  by  repeated  acts  spread  over  a  series  of  years. 
The  existence  of  such  a  disposition  of  mind  in  one  filling  so  public  a  station, 
circulating  so  constantly  in  society  through  the  wide  extent  of  so  large  a 
Diocese,  holding  free  and  habitual  intercourse  with  such  multitudes  of  peo- 
ple— by  no  means  all  friendly  disposed — without  detection  and  exposure, 
through  so  long  a  series  of  years,  is  in  a  high  degree  improbable.  The 
manifestation  of  such  a  disposition  in  the  kind  of  acts  charged,  and  under 
the  circumstances  specified,  and  no  otherwise,  is  very  improbable  ;  and  it  is 
equally  improbable,  had  more  overt  acts,  of  a  worse  description,  been  com- 
mitted, that  reports  so  long  and  so  extensively  known  as  those  concerning 
the  allegations  in  the  Presentment  have  been  proved  to  be,  should  not  have 
called  out  the  knowledge  of  them,  and  placed  them  within  the  reach  of  the 
diligence  of  the  suggesters  and  framers  of  this  Presentment. 

Another  kind  of  improbability  grows  out  of  the  number  and  silence  of 
the  persons  cognizant  of  the  allegations  made,  in  connection  with  their 
character  and  standing  in  society.  It  is  very  difficult  to  believe  that  so 
many  clergymen,  several  of  them  of  the  very  highest  repute  for  wisdom 
and  piety,  should  have  so  long  connived  at  such  guilt  as  is  charged  in  the 
Presentment.  If  true,  the  charges  of  that  document  are  charges  against 
every  clergyman  who  knew  of  them  and  kept  them  secret.  The  only 
ground  on  which  the  conduct  of  so  many,  so  intelligent,  so  respectable 
clergymen  can  be  justified,  is  that  they  did  not  believe  the  stories  which 
they  heard ;  or,  knowing  and  believing  certain  facts,  did  not  regard  them 
as  susceptible  of  the  coloring  put  upon  them  in  the  Presentment. 

Still  another  improbability  appears  in  the  conduct  of  the  individuals  pro- 
fessedly aggrieved.  One  such  instance  of  forbearance  as  both  Mr.  Butler 
and  Mr.  Beare  must  have  manifested,  had  they  at  the  time  regarded  the 
treatment  of  their  wives  in  the  color  now  given  it,  is  sufficiently  unlikely — 
the  occurrence  of  two,  under  circumstances  so  nearly  similar,  is  greatly 
so.  It  is  not  to  be  explained  by  a  recurrence  to  Christian  principle,  operating 
similarly  in  the  hearts  of  Christian  men,  because  Mr.  Butler  and  Mr.  Beare 
did  not,  on  their  own  showing,  act  on  Christian  principle  ;  they  did  not  tell 
their  brother  of  the  fault  now  alleged,  and  in  the  spirit  of  meekness  expostu- 
late with  him ;  the  sin  which  they  chose  not  to  reprove,  their  charity  did  not 
cover. 

The  discretion  of  the  females,  in  all  the  instances  of  alleged  insult,  is 


40 


equally  extraordinary.  Placed,  in  every  instance,  in  situations  affording 
opportunity  of  instant  discovery  of  the  insult  to  the  persons  most  concerned, 
most  entitled,  and  best  able,  to  check  and  punish  it,  they  appear,  in  every 
case,  for  a  time,  and,  in  all  but  one,  throughout,  by  silence  and  abstinence 
from  every  mode  of  giving  an  alarm,  to  have  connived  at  the  conduct 
which  they  now  represent  as  an  insufferable  outrage.  The  subsequent  con- 
duct  of  all,  Mrs.  Butler  alone  excepted,  is  similarly  strange  and  inexplicable. 
They  exchange  civilities  with  him  by  whom  they  have  been  insulted. 
They  receive  and  render  courtesies.  In  every  instance  they  share  the 
friendly  meal ;  in  one  it  is  proffered  and  urged  upon  the  offender,  as  a 
guest.  They  gossip  with  others  of  liberties  and  improprieties  ;  but  to  the 
party  on  whom  they  charge  them,  they  give  no  hint  or  token  that  he  has  ever 
given  them  offence.  In  three  instances,  he  remains  in  utter  ignorance  that 
any  thing  which  may  have  passed  between  him  and  them,  has  been  taken 
amiss  ;  nay,  in  two,  to  satisfy  him  that  it  has  not,  he  has  the  strong  evi- 
dence of  an  unsolicited  visit  from  one  of  the  two  aggrieved  sisters. 

The  charge  of  immorality  and  impurity  In  the  acts  alleged,  acquires 
improbability  from  the  circumstances,  in  every  specified  case.  That  any 
one  possessed  of  common  sagacity  and  self-conduct,  (to  say  nothing  of  his 
bearing  the  office  of  a  Bishop,)  should  have  chosen  to  indulge  his  evil  dis- 
positions in  circumstances  so  unfavorable,  is  hardly  conceivable.  An  open 
carriage  on  a  public  road,  (in  two  instances  in  broad  daylight,)  in  the  com- 
pany of  other  persons,  (in  two  instances  the  husband  of  the  lady  alleged  to 
have  been  insulted,)  are  the  last  situations  in  which  one  would  suppose  a 
man,  having  a  character  to  lose,  likely  to  give  rein  to  impure  desire,  and 
indulge  in  immoral  practices. 

The  time,  too,  in  every  instance,  increases  the  improbability.  After,  or 
before,  or  between  the  most  solemn  services  of  the  holy  religion  of  which 
he  is  a  minister,  the  Respondent  is  charged  with  having  grovelled  in  his 
impurity  and  immorality.  Precisely  when  he  might  be  expected,  if  ever, 
to  have  been  free  from  unchaste  desires,  even  if  habitual,  he  is  alleged  to 
have  ffiven  them  their  ran";e. 

The  mode  is  as  strange  as  the  time.  No  previous  or  subsequent  jovial- 
ity, frolicksomeness,  liberty,  or  even  lightness  of  speech  or  manner,  is  al- 
leged. Without  an  indecent  word,  without  a  hint  or  expression  capable  of 
evil  construction,  without,  so  far  as  appears  in  evidence,  a  look  or  gesture 
(apart  from  the  alleged  manipulation)  significative  of  impure  excitement, 
the  insults  are  represented  to  have  been,  deliberately,  coldly,  almost  sol- 
emnly perpetrated,  unexplained,  never  followed  up,  on  persons  the  most 
unlikely  to  permit  them,  at  times  the  most  incongruous,  under  circum- 
stances the  most  likely  to  bring  about  detection,  summary  punishment,  and 
deep,  irremediable  disgrace. 

Most  of  these  improbabilities  inhere  in  the  Presentment,  on  its  very  face  ; 
all  have  been  fully  brought  out  in  the  course  of  trial.  They  do  not  make  the 
charges  absolutely  incredible — incapable  of  proof — but  they  do  make  it  the 
duty  of  a  judge  to  require  the  very  strongest  and  fullest  testimony  for  their 
support. 

Now,  what  has  been  the  evidence  adduced  on  trial,  to  sustain  these 
charges  ?  In  every  case,  of  a  single  witness  only ;  that  witness  in  each 
case  an  interested  witness,  and  in  each  case  discredited.  In  the  case  of 
Mrs.  Butler — Mr.  Butler  saw  nothing  immoral  or  impure,  that  he  felt  dis- 
posed to  complain  of  as  an  improper  liberty.    What  he  retailed  throughout 


41 

the  country  for  seven  years,  was  his  wife's  story,  exaggerated  by  her  fan- 
cies, carelessly  heard  and  recklessly  repeated,  even  to  the  very  verge  of 
perjury.  Had  he  never  made  to  Mr.  Irving,  and  Mr.  Lucas,  and  Mr.  Hub- 
bard, and  Bishop  Meade,  and  Dr.  Henshaw,  and  Mr.  Gallagher,  and  prob- 
ably many  more  besides,  the  false  and  wholly  unfounded  representation 
that  the  Respondent  had  attempted  to  lift  Mrs.  Butler's  clothes,  this  Court 
would  probably  never  have  been  called  together. 

The  origin  of  that  falsehood,  to  my  mind,  utterly  discredits  Mrs.  Butler's 
evidence.  Hard  as  it  is  to  say  it,  justice  demands  the  expression  of  the 
opinion,  that  the  woman  who,  from  the  actions  which  Mrs.  Butler  herself 
has  ascribed  to  the  Bishop,  could  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  "  he  was 
about,"  or  "likely,"  "  to  pull  up  her  clothes,"  was  in  a  frame  of  mind  ca- 
pable of  putting  gross  misconstruction  upon  innocent  or  even  accidental 
movements,  and  not  likely  to  make  any  allowance  for  any  freedom  which 
the  relation  (by  her  admitted  to  have  been  almost  filial)  between  herself  and 
the  friend  of  her  father,  and  of  her  own  childhood,  might  have  prompted, 
and  excused,  if  not  justified. 

Mrs.  Butler,  it  appears,  naturally  of  a  nervous  temperament,  had  been 
greatly  fatigued  by  the  long,  rough  ride  of  the  preceding  day  and  night. 
Again  undergoing  fatigue,  she  was,  in  the  physical  sense  of  the  terms,  irritable 
and  excitable.  Recently  married,  and  within  a  year  a  mother,  it  is  not  mar- 
vellous that  her  excitability  should  take  a  particular  direction.  A  single  mis- 
conception of  a  caress,  such  as  she  testifies  she  had  often  before  admitted  and 
received  from  the  Bishop,  in  equal  purity  and  unsuspiciousness  on  both  sides 
— a  misconception  perhaps  owing  to  a  jolt  of  the  carriage  moving  over  an  un- 
even road — might  originate  a  train  of  misconstructions,  and  the  active  imagi- 
nation, which  out  of  a  grasp  of  the  leg  (if  that  did  occur)  could  run  on  to 
divine  an  intention  to  lift  the  clothes,  might  easily  lend  significance  to  con- 
tacts and  pressures  growing  out  of  the  uneasy  motion  of  a  carriage  on  a  deep 
and  broken  road. 

I  see  no  evidence,  therefore,  of  immoral  and  impure  conduct  on 
the  part  of  the  Bishop  in  the  ride  with  Mrs.  Butler.  She,  the  only 
witness,  is  likely  to  have  mistaken  the  precise  nature  and  occasion  of  the 
ac/s  about  which  she  testifies ;  of  their  intention,  (in  which  alone  the 
criminality  of  such  acts,  apart  from  the  occasion,  must  be  sought,)  she  has 
convicted  herself  of  incompetency  to  judge,  by  the  groundless  suspicion 
communicated  to  her  husband,  and  so  long  by  him  regarded  and  reported  as 
the  statement  of  a  fact.  The  inherent  improbabilities  of  the  charge  all  weigh 
against  such  worthless  evidence,  and  lead  me  to  believe  Mr.  Butler  and 
his  brother  clergymen,  and  Bishop  Meade,  for  the  four  years  between  1840 
and  the  date  of  the  Presentment,  right  in  their  conduct,  whatever  may  have 
been  their  opinion  ;  and  to  pronounce  the  Bishop,  what  they  treated  him  as 
being,  not  guilty  of  the  first  specification  in  the  Presentment. 

The  testimony  in  support  of  the  second  article  of  the  Presentment, 
deserves  only  to  be  characterized  as  absurd  and  self-confutatory. 

The  Presentment  has  not  ventured  to  charge  inebriation,  or  intoxication. 
It  is  only  undue,  or  improper  excitement,  by  vinous  or  spirituous  liquors,  that 
is  alleged.  What  is  such  undue  or  improper  excitement  ?  No  quantity 
of  vinous  or  spirituous  liquors  can  be  taken,  without  producing  some 
excitement.  Is,  therefore,  all  or  any  excitement  improper,  and  present- 
able ?  If  not,  where  is  the  limit,  within  the  line  of  intoxication  ?  The 
evidence,  in  support  of  the  specification,  is,  that  the  Bishop  "talked  a 


4 


42 

great  deal/'  "talked  thickly,"  "slept  heavily  during  the  night,"  (after  a 
day  of  fatiguing  duty,  while  riding  all  night,)  and  that  "his  breath  smelt  of 
wine,  or  spirituous  liquors."  A  single  glass  of  wine,  taken  at  Mr. 
Munn's,  whence  it  is  said  he  started  on  that  ride,  would  account  for  the 
latter  circumstance ;  and  it  appears  impossible  to  account  for  it  otherwise ; 
for  he  did  not  join  company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butler  after  a  full  carouse, 
or  deep  potations,  but  at  the  close  of  the  protracted  religious  services,  in 
which  he  had  borne  the  principal  part,  without,  it  is  presumable,  any 
public  indications  of  disqualification  by  indulgence  ;  of  which  evidence 
might,  and,  no  doubt,  would  have  been  produced,  had  it  existed.  The 
"  much  and  thick"  talking,  weigh  little  against  the  evidence  that,  at  the 
same  time,  though  in  a  carriage  in  rough  motion,  and  with  fading  light, 
he  was  able  to  read  several  letters,  parts  of  them  aloud,  and  to  discourse 
intelligently  of  their  contents.  No  incoherency,  no  absurdity,  no  incon- 
gruity ;  above  all,  no  indecency  of  talk  is  testified.  The  "  much"  talking, 
for  aught  that  appears,  was  the  innocent  indulgence  of  unsuspicious  frank- 
ness ;  the  "  thick"  talking,  perhaps,  the  imagination  of  those  whose  nice 
senses  had  detected  the  "fumes"  of  liquor;  or,  more  likely,  the  somewhat 
affected  articulation  of  organs  fatigued  by  hard  duty  through  the  day. 
The  second  specification  of  the  Presentment  is  wholly  unsupported  by  the 
testimony,  and  I  find  the  Respondent  not  guilty  of  the  same. 

The  third  specification  has  been  still  more  miserably  sustained.  Every 
circumstance  charged  has  been  disproved  by  the  only  witness  competent  to 
testify.  Nothing  alleged  in  this  article  took  place  as  there  recounted  ;  and 
what  did  actually  take  place,  was  regarded  by  the  witness  and  reporter, 
not  as  impure  and  immoral,  but  as,  at  the  utmost,  "  foolish  and  indiscreet ;;' 
and,  certainly,  as  described  by  him,  requires  no  little  sensitive  suspicious- 
ness to  give  it  a  color  deserving  of  that  light  censure.  On  the  showing  of 
the  very  testimony  adduced  for  the  Presentment,  the  Respondent  is  not 
guilty  of  the  charge  and  specifications  set  forth  in  its  third  article. 

The  fourth  article  has  not  been  tried.  The  fifth  and  sixth  articles,  teem- 
ing with  improbabilities  as  they  stand  in  the  Presentment,  have  been  con- 
nected by  the  testimony  with  a  tissue  of  improbabilities  still  more  astound- 
ing ;  and  yet  depend,  each,  upon  the  unsupported  evidence  of  a  solitary 
witness,  without  the  slightest  corroborative  or  circumstantial  proof ;  that  wit- 
ness, in  each  case,  being  discredited  by  her  own  conduct  at  the  time  and 
subsequently,  and  giving  evidence  on  the  trial  with  a  plain  disposition  to 
color  facts  and  keep  back  testimony. 

In  the  case  of  Helen  Rudderow,  it  is  improbable  that  a  ride  of  three  quar- 
ters of  a  mile  should  have  consumed  half  an  'hour  ;  it  is  very  improbable 
that  during  all  that  time,  save  five  minutes,  a  man  sitting  on  the  back  seat 
of  an  open  carriage  with  a  lady,  should  have  kept  his  hand  thrust  far  down 
in  her  bosom,  pressing  and  grasping  it,  as  they  passed  through  a  street  on 
New  York  island,  at  mid-day ;  it  is  exceedingly  improbable  that  a  lady  so 
abused,  possessing  any  degree  of  self-respect,  should  have  made  no  outcry  ; 
it  is  in  the  highest  degree  improbable  that  this  should  have  taken  place  with 
another  person  in  the  carriage,  within  hearing,  sight,  and  reach  ;  that  per- 
son a  man,  a  clergyman,  the  friend  and  pastor  of  the  insulted  female,  and 
he  be  in  no  way  solicited  to  attend  and  interfere  ;  but  it  is  most  of  all  im- 
probable that  that  person  should  have  been  the  Rev.  James  C.  Richmond, 
keen-sighted,  active,  observant,  as  all  who  know  him  know  he  is ;  and 
that  he  should  have  been  in  conversation  with  both  the  parties  thus  strange- 


ly  situated,  exchanging  questions  and  replies  with  both,  frequently  turning 
so  as  to  look  the  alleged  transgressor  in  the  face,  and  should  have  seen  and 
known  so  little  of  the  matter,  that  while  his  diligent  agency  is  recognisable 
in  every  part  of  the  proceedings  resulting  in  this  Presentment,  he  can  tes- 
tify nothing  even  corroborative  of  the  evidence  of  Miss  Rudderow,  which 
he  reduced  to  writing  and  procured  to  be  made  in  the  shape  of  an  affidavit. 

That  affidavit  discredits  the  witness  whose  sole  testimony  is  to  establish  this 
tissue  of  improbabilities.  By  swearing,  in  the  postscript  to  Jane  Rudderow's 
affidavit,  that  every  word  her  sister  has  therein  said  is  true,  Helen  Rud- 
derow has  proved  her  own  unfitness  to  bear  testimony  upon  oath  ;  for  of 
most  of  the  statements  thus  confirmed  she  could  have  had  no  personal  know- 
ledge, and  some  are  incontestably  disproved. 

The  conduct  of  Miss  Rudderow,  as  described  by  herself,  discredits  her 
testimony.  It  is  not  conceivable  that  any  virtuous  female,  treated  as  she 
represents  herself  to  have  been  during  nearly  half  an  hour,  would  welcome 
to  her  home  the  man  by  whom  she  had  been  outraged,  and  send  down  a 
younger  sister  to  bear  him  company,  and  "  entertain"  him  in  a  room  alone. 
The  woman  who  could  do  so  is  unworthy  of  belief :  the  woman  who  can 
represent  herself  as  having  done  so,  compels  me,  in  mercy  to  her,  to  reject 
her  evidence.  Such  testimony,  destitute  of  the  slightest  corroboration,  is 
greatly  outweighed  by  the  many  and  extreme  improbabilities  of  the  story 
which  depends  on  it;  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  concluding  that,  of  im- 
morality and  impurity  in  the  manner  specified  in  the  fifth  article  of  the  Pre- 
sentment, the  Respondent  is  not  guilty. 

With  relation  to  the  allegations  of  Jane  O.  Rudderow,  it  is  hard  to  say 
which  occasions  most  surprise,  the  tenor  of  her  testimony,  or  the  absence  of 
other  testimony  to  support  it,  considering  what  she  testifies.  That  any  man 
of  decent  character  (setting  out  of  view  his  position  as  a  clergyman  and  a 
Bishop)  should  have  had  the  hardihood  at  first  greeting  a  young  woman  in 
her  own  house,  in  an  open  room,  within  hearing  of  her  two  brothers  grown 
to  man's  estate,  to  insult  her,  as  Miss  Rudderow  describes  herself  to  have 
been  insulted,  is  sufficiently  improbable  ;  that  she  should  have  suffered  it, 
(and  that,  too,  after  previous  warning  by  her  sister,)  without  outcry,  or  the 
slightest  intimation  to  her  brothers  that  their  company  was  desirable,  is  still 
more  improbable  ;  that  she,  and  her  equally  insulted  sister,  should  have 
quietly  dined  with  him,  and  suffered  his  company  after  dinner,  is  very 
strange  ;  but,  that  then  she  should  have  given  him  an  opportunity  of  conver- 
sation remote  from  others,  by  going  with  him  to  the  end  of  the  piazza  ;  that 
there  he  should  have  repeated  his  insult  in  the  presence  of  half  a  dozen 
others,  a  mother's  quick  eyes  among  them,  without  protest  from  her  or  no- 
tice on  their  part ;  and  that  again,  a  few  minutes  afterwards,  in  a  small 
room  with  several  others  present,  he  should  avail  himself  of  her  going  to 
the  window,  to  rush  after  her,  pass  with  her  behind  a  painted  window-shade 
that  hung  four  inches  from  the  glass  of  art  outside  window,  and  beneath  that 
semi-transparent  covering  again  perpetrate  the  outrage  of  thrusting  his  hand 
far  down  into  her  naked  bosom  through  a  high-necked,  close-fastened  dress, 
without  resistance  on  her  part,  or  attracting  any  observation  by  the  company 
in  the  room,  whose  sole  and  honored  guest  he  was  ; — these  are  improbabili- 
ties surpassing  belief.  Where  is  the  sister-in-law  who  was  in  the  piazza, 
and  in  the  room,  when  these  things  are  said  to  have  taken  place  ?  She 
personally  appeared  in  Court.  Why  did  she  give  no  evidence  1  Of  course, 
because  she  had  none  to  give.   She  knew  nothing  of  all  this.   It  took  place 


44 


in  her  presence,  her  sister  says  ;  but  she  cannot  corroborate  the  testimony  of 
that  sister  by  the  recollection  of  a  single  circumstance.  In  the  affidavit  of 
Jane  Rudderow,  the  remark  of  her  mother,  now  deceased,  is  related.  She 
cannot  be  called  upon  to  give  testimony.  The  sister-in-law  who  can,  saw 
nothing,  heard  nothing,  knew  nothing  of  the  marvels  that  were  going  on  before 
their  eyes,  or  within  their  hearing.  Of  the  subsequent  conduct  of  the  Rudde- 
rows,  their  own  reluctant  testimony  makes  it  clear  enough  that  it  has  been 
inconsistent,  and  throws  discredit  on  their  alleged  grievances  ;  that  of  Jane 
is  wholly  irreconcilable  with  any  degree  of  womanly  sensitiveness  and  deli- 
cacy, if,  previously  to  her  voluntary  offer  to  call  upon  the  Bishop  in  his 
study,  to  which  Mr.  Dowdney  and  Miss  Rutter  testify,  she  had  really  received 
from  him  the  treatment  recounted  in  her  testimony.  On  the  unsupported 
word  of  such  a  witness  it  is  impossible  to  receive  the  tissue  of  improba- 
bilities strung  together  in  her  story.  Without  other  and  better  proof,  I  can- 
not but  believe  the  Respondent  not  guilty  of  the  immorality  and  impurity 
charged  against  him  in  the  sixth  article  of  the  Presentment. 

The  seventh  and  eighth  articles,  distinct  allegations,  but  parts  of  the  same 
story,  have  the  peculiarity  of  a  show  of  support  for  the  testimony  of  the 
single  witness  on  whom,  in  that,  like  all  the  others,  they  depend.  If  the 
allegations,  as  they  now  stand  in  the  Presentment,  were  ever  made  to 
the  Respondent,  and  admitted  by  him,  they  would,  by  that  confession,  be 
sufficiently  proved.  It  has  been  contended  that  they  were  so  made,  and 
admitted  ;  and  to  that  effect,  the  testimony  of  Drs.  Milnor  and  Muhlenberg 
has  been  adduced.  On  the  other  hand,  the  united  testimony  of  all  present, 
that  at  the  interview  when  they  were  first  made  known  to  the  Respondent, 
he  denied  them  ;  the  admitted  uncertainty  whether  that  denial  had  refer- 
ence to  the  criminal  character  given  to  what  passed  between  him  and  Mrs. 
Beare,  or  to  the  attempted  statement  of  what  did  pass  ;  the  discrepant  testi- 
mony of  Drs.  Milnor  and  Muhlenberg,  as  to  the  way  in  which  that  state- 
ment was  made  ;  the  clear,  distinct,  and  full  evidence  of  Dr.  Higbee,  as  to 
his  impression  of  the  denial  made  at  the  first  interview,  and  the  kind  of  ad- 
mission made  at  the  second  ;  and  the  evident  treacherousness  of  Dr.  Mil- 
nor's  memory,  which  has  betrayed  him  into  contradictory  statements  rela- 
tive to  a  matter  of  no  less  importance  than  his  own  faithfulness  to  the  agree- 
ment or  understanding,  after  those  interviews,  to  make  no  further  mention 
of  the  transaction  ;  afford  abundant  ground  to  doubt  the  correctness  of  Dr. 
Milnor's  uncorroborated  recollections,  and  to  acquiesce  in  the  impression  of 
Dr.  Higbee,  which  alone  is  reconcilable  with  what  all  admit  to  have  taken 
place  between  Dr.  Milnor  and  the  Bishop,  at  the  close  of  the  second  inter- 
view, and  with  the  honesty  and  piety  of  character  of  all  four  clergymen 
concerned  ; — to  wit,  that  the  Bishop  did  not  admit  the  allegations  as  implying 
guilt,  but  sought  to  reconcile  a  difference,  which  he,  in  the  most  charitable 
view  of  the  conduct  of  his  accuser,  attributed  to  mistake  and  misconstruction. 

The  charge  of  impurity  and  immorality  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Beare,  then, 
and  the  specifications  on  which  that  charge  is  grounded,  still  rest  on  the 
single  testimony  of  Mrs.  Beare.  When  presented  to  the  Respondent  by  his 
brethren  of  the  clergy,  he  denied  them  with  indignation  ;  and  there  is  not 
the  slightest  evidence  to  fix  what  extent  he  meant  to  give  to  his  subsequent 
declaration  that  he  would  not  impeach  the  veracity  of  Mrs.  Beare. 

What  he  would  not  do,  Mrs.  Beare  herself  has  compelled  this  Court  to 
do,  by  her  unfortunate  statements  concerning  a  written  document  in  which 
she  had  set  down  the  particulars  of  her  story.    The  witness  who  could  pos- 


45 


itively  declare  of  such  a  document,  "  it  is  destroyed,"  and  then,  within  five 
minutes,  be  brought,  by  the  searching  interrogatories  of  Counsel,  to  admit, 
in  so  many  words,  "  It  is  not  destroyed,"  cannot  claim  credit  for  veracity. 
Neither  does  Mrs.  Beare's  very  remarkable  want  of  memory  concerning 
transactions  which  one  would  suppose  she,  of  all  others,  would  be  least 
likely  to  forget  in  any  their  minutest  circumstances — transactions  sub- 
sequently to  her  alleged  insult,  with  him  by  whom  she  complains  of  having 
been  insulted — wear  the  appearance  of  veracity.  It  is  as  hard  to  believe 
that  she  and  her  husband  could  have  so  entirely  forgotten  all  that  sufficient 
witnesses  have  proved  to  have  passed  between  them  and  the  Bishop,  subse- 
quently to  the  transactions  now  made  ground  of  accusation  against  him, 
as  it  is  to  conceive  how  such  things  could  have  passed  between  them  and 
him,  had  they  at  the  time  believed  him  to  be  guilty  of  the  immorality  and 
impurity  now  laid  to  his  charge. 

Whether  the  manner  of  the  Bishop  in  the  morning's  ride  with  Mrs.  Beare, 
which  has  been  made  the  subject  of  the  seventh  article  of  the  Presentment, 
was  not  too  free  and  caressing  for  the  lively  sensibility  of  that  lady ; 
whether  it  was  not  accounted  for,  and  justified  by  the  more  than  ordinary 
intimacy,  and  paternal  intercourse  of  the  Bishop  with  her  husband  from 
his  boyhood,  and  the  consequent  filial  relation  of  the  wife  to  the  husband's 
old  friend  and  second  father  ; — these  are  questions  not  for  this  Court  to  solve. 
Our  business  is  with  the  extent  and  intentions  of  the  freedoms  taken.  Were 
they  immoral  in  their  nature  ?  Were  they  impure  in  their  design  ?  Mrs. 
Beare's  own  account  of  them  does  not  prove  that  either  she  or  her  husband 
so  regarded  them,  when  she  first  made  her  complaint  to  him.  She  thought 
them  "  unbecoming,"  "too  familiar  ;"  she  did  not  like  them  :  and  he  sym- 
pathized with  his  newly-married  wife,  as  was  natural.  But  did  they  think 
the  acts  criminal  ?  They  do  not  say  so.  They  cannot :  for  if  they  did, 
the  conduct  of  both,  for  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  evening,  would 
be  set  in  an  extraordinary  light ;  and  the  husband,  who,  knowing  and 
believing  his  wife  to  have  been  grossly  insulted  in  the  day-time,  had 
placed  her  again  that  night  in  the  situation  that  had  exposed  her  to  the  in- 
sult, would  deserve  a  name  harsher  than  I  care  to  introduce.  Mr.  Beare 
did  not  believe  the  story  now  before  the  Court,  when  he  took  his  wife  home 
from  Mr.  Franklin's  in  the  evening  ride,  which  is  made  the  subject  of  the 
eighth  specification.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  believed  it,  except 
so  far  as  to  be  sure  that  it  had  foundation,  to  be  confident  in  his  wife's  ve- 
racity, to  acquit  her  of  intentional  false  witness.  Now  it  is  observable  that 
Mrs.  Beare,  like  Mrs.  Butler,  was  newly-married  when  these  occurrences 
took  place.  A  new  station  in  life  had  brought  with  it  new  notions  of  propriety, 
of  dignity,  of  decency.  What,  as  in  Mrs.  Butler's  case,  the  girl  might  have 
suffered  without  a  thought  of  impropriety,  the  bride  regarded  in  a  different 
light ;  the  caresses  of  a  parent  were  no  longer  uppermost  in  her  mind,  and 
what,  under  other  circumstances,  might  have  been  taken  as  they  were  meant, 
for  tokens  of  paternal  fondness,  became  disgusting  under  another  construc- 
tion, lent  them  by  the  prevailing  current  of  her  affections.  That  Mrs. 
Beare,  having  once  misconstrued  the  attention  of  the  Bishop,  is  capable  of 
so  framing  her  narrative  of  what  then  and  subsequently  transpired,  as  to 
make  it  bear  her  out  in  her  misconstructions,  the  whole  tenor  of  her  tes- 
timony too  plainly  shows.  Ingenuousness,  frankness,  and  candor,  are  not  the 
characteristics  of  that  testimony.  It  was  painful  to  listen  to  the  efforts  of  Coun- 
sel to  obtain  from  this  witness  direct  and  positive  answers  on  topics  which  it 


46 


was  her  interest  to  avoid.  There  is  too  much  in  the  testimony  of  Mrs.  Beare 
that  looks  like  convenient  forgetfulness,  evasion,  and  coloring  by  partial 
and  imperfect  statements,  to  leave  a  doubt  that  when  she  had  once  commit- 
ted herself  to  her  husband  as  to  the  character  of  the  Bishop's  familiarities, 
she  was  capable  of  viewing  and  representing  every  thing  that  might  sub- 
sequently occur,  in  the  aspect  most  favorable  to  her  declared  anticipations. 
Into  the  details  of  her  representation  of  the  occurrences  in  the  second  ride, 
I  do  not  care  to  go,  for  obvious  reasons.  Setting  aside  moral  improbabili- 
ties, there  are  circumstantial  difficulties  in  her  statement  that  will  not  bear 
examination  ;  and  that  statement  has  the  additional  disadvantage  of  being 
set  forth  quite  differently  in  her  own  evidence,  in  the  affidavit  of  her  hus- 
band, and  in  the  recollections  of  Dr.  Muhlenberg — no  two  agreeing  in  the 
minute  details  which  alone  give  explicitness  and  atrocity  to  the  alleged 
offence.  '  I  cannot  receive  such  facts,  from  such  a  witness,  under  the  wit- 
ness's own  coloring.  Whatever  may  have  taken  place  between  the  Bish- 
op and  Mrs.  Beare  on  that  occasion,  I  find  no  adequate  support  for  the 
charge  of  designed  indecency  on  his  part,  improbable  as  the  person,  the 
time,  and  the  circumstances  make  it.  There  must  be  more  and  better  evi- 
dence, before  I  can  convict  the  Respondent  of  the  immorality  and  impurity 
alleged  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  specifications  of  the  Presentment.  To 
my  mind  he  appears  now,  what  I  believe  him  to  have  appeared  to  the  four 
clergymen  who  first  brought  the  allegations  to  his  notice,  not  guilty  of  such 
immorality  and  impurity. 

The  specifications  severally  unproved,  cannot  jointly  make  up  proof  of 
guilt.  To  do  that,  the  whole  must  be  regarded  as  one  fact,*of  which  each 
specification  then  becomes  an  essential  circumstance  ;  and  the  same  degree 
of  proof  becomes  necessary  to  establish  such  essential  circumstance,  that  is 
requisite  for  the  establishment  of  the  entire  fact  which  it  is  taken  to  make  up. 

The  failure  of  proof  under  each  specification,  has  destroyed  an  essential 
circumstance  of  the  general  charge  ;  and  the  failure  under  all,  has  left  that 
charge  wholly  devoid  of  existence,  and  therefore  incapable  of  proof.  Guilt  has 
not  been  proved  in  either  of  the  specifications  alleged  in  the  Presentment ; 
it  would  be  equally  absurd  and  unjust  to  consider  it  as  proved,  apart  from 
the  specifications  and  out  of  them.  The  Respondent  is  not  guilty  of  immo- 
rality and  impurity,  as  specified  in  the  first,  second,  third,  fifth,  sixth,  sev- 
enth, and  eighth  articles  of  the  Presentment.  Not  having  been  tried  on  the 
fourth,  there  remains  no  specification  of  the  alleged  immorality  and  im- 
purity.   He  is,  therefore,  not  guilty  of  the  charge  at  all. 

This  being  my  opinion,  grounded  on  the  reasons  adduced,  (among  many 
others  that  might  be  given,)  it  is  unnecessary  that  I  should  examine  the  ques- 
tion whether  these  accusations,  being  sustained  each  only  by  a  single  witness, 
can  be  entertained  at  all  by  this  Court.  Other  members  of  the  Court  have 
learnedly  and  conclusively  shown  that  they  cannot.  For  me,  it  is  enough 
to  find  them  all  improbable,  and  each  unproved,  to  be  assured  that,  whether 
rightly  entertained  or  not,  they  must  needs  be  dismissed,  on  the  principles  that 
govern  all  human  judgments  in  the  investigation  of  the  evidence  of  facts 
and  motives. 

WILLIAM  ROLLINSON  WHITTINGHAM, 

Bishop  of  Maryland. 


ADDENDA. 

To  the  note,  at  the  bottom  of  page  3,  should" have  been  appended  :  —The  fol- 
lowing is  from  the  II.  Canon,  Of  the  trial  of  a  Clergyman,  in  the  Diocese  of 
North  Carolina.  "  No  charge  shall  be  substantiated  on  the  testimony  of  less  than 
two  witnesses.  In  all  questions  a  unanimous  vote  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
decision.1* 


Valuable  Episcopal  Works  Published  by  D.  Appleton  Co. 


COMPLETE  WORKS  OF  MR.  RICHARD  HOOKER; 

WITH   AN   ACCOUNT   OF   HIS    LIFE   AND  DEAXH. 
BY  ISAAC  WALTON. 

ARRANGED    EY    THE    REV.    JOHN    KEBLI,    M  A. 

In  two  elegant  octavo  volumes. — Price  §4  00. 
CONTENTS. 

The  Editor's  Preface  comprises  a  general  survey  of  the  former  edition  of  Hooker'* 
Works,  with  Historical  Illustrations  of  the  period.  After  which,  follows  the  Life  of 
Hooker,  by  Isaac  Walton.  Those  articles  occupy  nearly  two- fifths  of  the  first  volume  of 
the  English  edition.    His  chief  work  succeeds,  on  the  "  Laws  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity." 

It  commences  with  a  lengthened  Preface  designed  as  an  Address  "  to  them  who  seek  the 
Reformation  of  the  Laws  and  Orders  Ecclesiastical  of  the  Church  of  England." 

The  discussion  is  divided  into  eight  books,  which  include  an  investigation  of  the  topics 
tliU3  stated. 

1.  Laws  and  their  several  kinds  in  general. 

2.  The  use  of  the  divine  law  contained  in  Scripture;  whether  that  be  the  only  law 
which  ought  to  serve  for  our  direction  in  ah  things  without  exception  ;  or  whether  Scripture 
is  the  only  rule  of  all  things,  which,  in  this  life,  may  be  done  by  men. 

3.  Laws  concerning  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  whether  the  form  thereof  be  in  Scripture  so 
set  down  that  no  addition  or  change  is  lawful:  or  whether,  in  Scripture,  there  must  be 
of  necessity  contained  a  form  of  church  polity,  the  laws  whereof  may  in  no  wise  be  altered. 

4.  General  exceptions  taken  against  the  laws  of  our  polity,  as  being  popish,  and  banisheJ 
out  of  certain  reformed  churches;  or  the  assertion,  that  our  form  of  church  polity  is  cor 
rupted  with  popish  orders,  rites,  and  ceremoniej,  banished  out  of  certain  reformed  churches, 
whose  example  therein  we  ought  to  have  follower} 

5.  The  fifth  book  occupies  two-fifths  of  the  vchole  work,  subdivided  into  eighty-ono 
chapters,  including  all  the  principal  topics  which,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  were  the  suo- 
jects  of  polemical  disputation  between  the  members  uf  the  Established"  Church  of  England 
and  the  Puritans.  The  character  and  extent  of  the  research  ran  accurately  be  under- 
stood fiom  this  general  delineation.  Our  laws  that  concern  the  public  religious  duties 
of  the  church,  and  the  manner  of  bestowing  that  Order,  which  enableth  men,  in  sundry 
degrees  and  callings,  to  execute  the  same  ;  or  the  assertion  that  touching  the  s'everal  du- 
ties of  tho  Christian  religion,  there  is  among  us  much  superstition  retained  in  them  •  acd 
concerning  persons  who,  for  performance  of  those  dutie-,  aie  endued  with  the  power  uf 
ecclesiastical  order,  and  laws  and  proceedings  according  thereunto,  are  many  ways  hereia 
also  corrupt. 

6.  The  Power  of  Jurisdiction,  which  the  Reformed  platform  claimeth  unto  lay-elders, 
with  others  ;  or  the  assertion,  that  our  laws  are  corrupt  and  repugnant  to  t"i>e  laws  of  God' 
in  matters  belonging  to  the  power  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  in  that  we  have  not' 
throughout  all  churches,  ceitain  lay-elders  established  or  the  exercise  of  tha*.  power. 

7.  The  Tower  of  Jurisdiction,  and  the  honour  which  is  annexed  thereunto  in  Bishops  or 
the  assertion,  that  there  ought  not  to  be  in  the  Church,  Bishops  endued  with  suc'n  autkority 
and  honour  as  ours  are. 

8.  The  power  of  ecclesiastical  dominion,  or  supreme  authority,  which  with  ua,  the  high- 
est governor  or  prince  hath,  as  well  in  regard  of  domestical  jurisdiction,  as  of  thai  other'fo- 
reignly  claimed  by  the  Bishop  of  Rome  ;  or  the  assertion,  that  to  no  civil  p-ince  or  governor 
there  may  be  given  such  power  of  ecclesiastical  dominion,  as  by  the  laws  of  the  land  be- 
longeth  unto  the  supreme  regent  thereof. 

After  those  eight  Books  of  "  The  Laws  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity,"  follow  two  Sermons 
"  The  certainty  and  perpetuity  of  Faith  in  the  elect ;  especially  of  the  Prophet  Habakk'ik'a 
faith  ;"  and  "Justification,  Works,  and  how  the  foundation  of  faith  is  overthrown." 

Next  are  introduced — "A  supplication  made  to  the  Council  by  Master  Walter  Tra- 
rers," — and    'Mi.  Hooker's  answer  to  the  supplication  that  Mr.  Traversmade  to  the  council.* 

Then  follow  two  sermons — "  On  the  nature  of  pride,"— and  a  "  Remedy  against  sorrow 
and  fear." 

Two  Sermons  on  part  of  the  epistle  of  the  Apostle  Jude,  are  next  inserted — with  a  prefa- 
tory dedication,  by  Henry  Jacksoa. 

The  last  article  in  the  works  of  Mr.  Hooker  is,  a  Sermon  on  Prayer. 

To  render  the  work  more  valuable  and  adapted  for  reference  and  utility  to  the  Student,  a 
fery  copious  Topical  Index  is  added. 

The  English  edition  in  three  volumes  sells  at  $10  00.  The  American  is  an  exact  reprint, 
at  less  than  half  the  price. 

From  Lowndes^  British  Librarian  and  Book-Collector's  Guide. 
"  Keble's  preface,  like  Walton's  life,  should  precede  every  subsequent  edition. 
"  Hooker  is  universally  distinguished  for  long  drawn  melody  and  mellifluence  of  tea 
guage,  and  his  works  must  find  a  place  in  every  well  chosen  clerical  library." 


Valuable  Episcopal  Works  Published  by  D.  Appleton  Sf  Co. 


BURNET'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 

The  History  of  the  Reformation  of  the  Church  of  England,  by  Gilbert 
Burnet,  D.  D.,  late  Lord  Bishop  of  Salisbury — with  the  Collection  of 
Records  and  a  copious  Index,  revised  and  corrected,  with  additional 
Notes  and  a  Preface,  by  the  Rev.  E.  Nares,  D.  D.,  late  Professor  of 
Modern  History  in  the  University  of  Oxford.  Illustrated  with  a  Front- 
ispiece and  twenty-three  engraved  Portraits,  forming  four  elegant  8vo. 
vols.    $3  00. 

K  cheap  Edition  is  printed,  containing  the  History  in  three  vols,  with- 
out the  Records — which  form  the  fourth  volume  of  the  above. — Price, 
in  boards,  $2  50. 

To  the  student  either  of  civil  or  religious  history  no  epoch  can  bo  of  more  importance 
that  of  the  lteformation  in  England.  It  signalized  the  overthrow,  in  one  of  its  strong- 
est holds,  of  the  Roman  power,  and  gave  an  impulse  to  the  human  mind,  the  full  results  of 
which  are  <*ven  now  but  partly  realized.  Almost  all  freedom  of  inquiry — all  toleration  in 
matters  of  -eligion,  had  its  biith-hour  then  ;  and  without  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  all  its 
principal  events,  but  little  progiess  can  he  made  in  understanding  the  nature  and  ultimate 
tendencies  of  the  resolution  then  effected. 

The  History  of  Bishop  Burnet  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  and  by  far  the  most  fre- 
quently quoted  t^t  my  that  has  been  written  of  this  great  event.  Upon  the  original  publi- 
cation of  the  first  volume,  it  was  received  in  Great  Britain  with  the  loudest  and  most  extra- 
vagant encomium*  The  author  received  the  thanks  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  was 
requested  by  them  tc  continue  the  woik.  In  continuing  it  he  had  the  assistance  of  the  most 
learned  and  eminent  divines  of  bis  time  ;  and  he  confesses  his  indebtedness  for  important  aid 
to  Lloyd,  Tillotson,  and  8tilm xqfleet,  three  of  the  greatest  of  England's  Bishops. 
"  I  know,"  says  he,  in  his  Preface  to  the  second  volume,  "  that  nothing  can  more  effectually 
recommend  this  work,  than  to  say  that  it  passed  with  their  hearty  approbation,  after  they  had 
examined  it  with  that  care  which  their  great  zeal  for  the  cause  concerned  in  it,  and  their 
goodness  to  the  author  and  freedom  with  him,  obliged  them  to  use." 

The  present  edition  of  this  great  work  has  been  edited  with  laborious  care  by  Dr.  Nares, 
who  professes  to  have  corrected  important  errors  into  which  the  author  fell,  and  to  have 
made  such  improvements  in  the  order  of  the  work  as  will  render  it  far  more  useful  to  the 
reader  or  historical  student.  Preliminary  explanations,  full  and  sufficient  to  the  clear  under- 
standing of  the  author,  are  given,  and  marginal  references  are  made  throughout  the  book,  so 
as  greatly  to  facilitate  and  render  accurate  its  consultation.  The  v  hole  is  published  in  four 
large  octavo  volumes  of  six  hundred  pages  in  each— printed  upon  heavy  paper  in  large  and 
clear  type.  It  contains  portraits  of  twenty-four  of  the  most  celebrated  characters  of  the 
Reformation,  and  is  issued  in  a  very  neat  style.  It  will  of  course  find  a  place  in  every  the- 
ologian's library — and  will,  by  no  means,  we  trust,  be  confined  to  that  comparatively  limited 
sphere. — JV.  Y.  Tribune. 


BURNET  ON  THE  XXXIX.  ARTICLES. 

An  Exposition  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles'  of  the  Church  of  England. 
By  Gilbert  Burnet,  D.  D.,  late  Bishop  of  Salisbury.  With  an  Ap- 
pendix, containing  the  Augsburg  Confession,  Creed  of  Pope  Pius  IV., 
&c.  Revised  and  corrected,  with  copious  Notes  and  additional  Refer- 
ences, by  the  Rev.  James  R.  Page,  A.  M.,  of  Queen's  College,  Cam- 
bridge.   In  one  handsome  8vo.  volume.    ^2  00. 

"  No  Churchman,  no  Theologian,  can  stand  in  need  of  information  as  to  the  character  or 
value  of  Bishop  Burnet's  Exposition,  which  long  since  took  its  fitting  place  as  one  of  the 
acknowledged  and  admired  standards  of  the  Church.  It  is  only  needful  that  we  sper.k  of 
the  labours  of  the  editor  of  the  present  edition,  and  these  appear  to  ble-nd  a  fitting  modesty 
with  eminent  industry  and  judgment.  Thus,  while  Mr.  Page  ha3  carefully  verified,  and  in 
many  instances  corrected  and  enlarged  the  r  eferences  to  the  Fathers.  Councils,  and  other  au- 
thorities, and  greatly  multiplied  the  Scripture  citations— for  the  Bishop  seems  in  many 
cases  to  have  forgotten  that  his  readers  would  not  all  be  as  familiar  with  the  Sacred  Text  as 
himself,  and  might  not  as  readily  find  a  passage  even  when  they  knew  it  existed— he  (Mr, 
P.)  has  scrupulously  left  the  text  untouched,  and  added  whatever  illustrative  matter  he  has 
been  able  to  gather  in  the  form  of  Notes  and  an  Appendix.  The  documents  collected  in  tho 
latter  are  of  great  and  abiding  value." 


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PAROCHIAL  SERMONS. 

BY  JOHN  HENRY  NEWMAN,  B.  D. 

Fellow  of  Oriel  College  and  Vicar  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin's,  Oxford.  The 
6  vols.  London  edition,  complete  in  two  elegant  8vo.  vols,  of  upwards 
of  600  pages  each.    $5  00. 

ftjT  Mr.  Newman's  Sermons  have  probably  attained  a  higher  character  than  any  others 
ever  published  in  this  country.  The  following  are  a  few  of  the  recommendatory  notices  of 
the  press,  received  hy  the  publishers: — 

"  It  would  he  rather  late  now  to  praise  sermons  whose  reputation  is9o  well  established  u 
those  of  Mr.  Newmrtn  ;  and  it  would  be  unpardonable  vanity  to  suppose  that  any  thin"  we 
might  say  could  add  to  the  very  high  commendations  thev  haTe  received  from  some  of  our 
Right  Reverend  Fathers  in  God.  We  quoted  l  ist  week  the  strong  language  of  the  Bishop  of 
Maryland:  the  Bishop  of  New  York  says,  '-for  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  for  humble 
and  child-like  reliance  on  the  word  of  God,  and  for  close,  pointed,  and  uncompromin  iig  pre- 
sentation of  the  tiuths  and  duties  of  the  gospel,  I  know  not  their  superiors."  T"  o  Bjahofi 
of  New  Jersey  thus  speaks  of  them,  in  a  letter  to  the  publishers  :  ■  I  have  looke  and  longed 
for  an  edition  of  these  sermons,  as  your  noblest  contributions  to  the  sacred  literature  of  the 
times.  Mr.  Newman's  Sermons  are  of  an  order  by  themselves.  There  is  a  naturalness,  a 
pressure  towards  the  point  proposed,  an  ever  salient  freshness  abou*  them,  which  will  at 
tract  a  class  of  readers  to  whom  sermons  are  not  ordinarily  attractive :"— and  the  Bishop  of 
North  Carolina  writes,  '  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say, — after  a  constant  us  ,'  of  them  in  my  closet, 
and  an  observation  of  their  effect  upon  some  of  my  friends,  for  the  last  six  years, — that  they 
are  among  the  very  best  practical  sermons  in  the  English  language  ;  that  while  they  are  free 
from  those  extravagances  of  opinion  usually  ascribed  to  the  author  of  the  90rh  Tract,  they 
assert  in  the  strongest  manner  the  true  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  in  England,  and  enforce 
with  peculiar  solemnity  and  effect  that  holiness  of  life,  with  the  means  thereto,  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  Fathers  of  that  trying  age." 

The  sermons  are  155  in  number,  being  an  exact  reprint  of  the  London  edition  in  six 
volumes. — Banner  of  the  Cross. 

"  Of  Mr.  Newman's  Sermons  it  may  be  safely  said,  that  they  are  adapted  to  the  begetting 
sins  of  the  age  ;  that  the  author  traces  them  with  a  masterly  hand  to  the  most  secret  springs 
of  intellectual  pride  ;  and  that  he  explains  and  enfWces  the  great  principles  and  duties  of 
Evangelical  holiness,  with  a  grace  and  simplicity  of  style,  and  unction  of  manner,  which  are 
seldom  surpassed.  We  therefore  heartily  commend  his  Sermons  to  our  readers,  and  earn- 
estly hope  they  may  rind  their  way  into  every  family." — The  Churchman. 

"  As  a  compendium  of  Christian  duty,  these  Sermons  will  be  read  by  people  of  all  denomi- 
nations. As  models  of  style,  they  will  be  valued  bv  writers  in  every  department  of  litera 
tare."—  United  States  OazeUe. 

"These  Sermons  must  eventually  be  received  and  quoted  as  among  the  Standard  Theo- 
logical Writings  of  this  century,  and  that,  too,  within  the  time  of  this  generation."— Phil. 
Sat.  Post. 

"They  hear  the  marks  of  an  original  and  highly  catholic  mind,  and  many  of  them  breathe 
a  deep  devotional  spirit.— Albany  Argus.  * 

SERMONS 

BEARING  ON  SUBJECTS  OF  THE  DAY. 

BY  JOHN  HENRY  NEWMAN,  B  i>. 

One  elegant  volume,  12juo.     Price  $1  25. 

This  volume  contains  twenty-. viz  Sermons,  which  aie  thus  entitled  : —Work  of  the  Chris- 
tian.— Saintliness  not  forfeited  by  the  Penitent.— Our  Lord's  last  Supper  and  his  first.— 
Dangers  to  the  Pcrritent.^—  The  Throe  Offices  of  Christ.— Faith  and  Experience.— Faith  and 
the  World. — The  Church  and  the  World.— Indulgence  in  religious  privileges.--Connexion 
between  personal  and  public  improvement. — Christian  Nobleness. -doshua  a  type  of  Christ 
and  his  foilpwejs. — Elislia  a  type  of  Christ  and  his  followers. — The  Christian  Church  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  Jewish.— The  Principle  of  continuity  between  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
Churches. — The  Christian  Church  an  imperial  power. — Sanctity  the  token  of  the  Christian, 
empire. — Condition  of  the  Members  of  the  Christian  Empire. — The  Apostolical  Christian. — 
Wiidom  and  Innocence. — Invisible  presence  of  Christ. — Outward  and  inward  Notes  of  the 
Church. — Grounds  for  itedfastness  in  our  religious  profession.--Elijah  the  prophet  of  the 
latter  days.— Feasting  in  captivity.— The  parting  of  friends. 


Valuable  Episcopal  Works  Published  by  D.  Appleton  Sf  Co, 


SERMONS 

PREACHED   AT  CLAPHAM  AND  GLASBURY, 

BY  THE  REV.  CHARLES  BRADLEY,  A.  M. 
Two  volumes  of  English  edition  in  one.    Price  $1  25. 

The  Sermons  of  this  Divine  are  much  admired  for  their  plain,  yet  chaste  and  elegant 
style  ;  they  will  bo  found  admirably  adapted  for  family  reading  arid  preaching,  where  no  pastor 
is  located.  Recommendations  might  be  given,  if  space  would  admit,  from  several  of  out 
Bishops  and  Clergy — also  from  Ministers  of  various  denominations. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  English  critical  opinions  of  their  merit : — 

"Bradley's  Discourses  are  judicious  and  practical,  scriptural  and  devout."-  Lowndes's 
British  Librarian. 

"Very  able  and  judicious." — Rev.  E.  Bickersteth. 

u  Bradley's  style  is  sententious,  pithy,  and  colloquial.  He  is  simple  without  being  quaint : 
and  he  almost  holds  conversation  with  his  hearers,  without  descending  from  the  dignity  el 
the  sacred  chair." — Eclectic  Review 

"  We  earnestly  desire  that  every  pulpit  in  the  kingdom  may  ever  be  the  vehicle  of  dis- 
courses as  judicious  and  practical,  as  scriptural  and  devout  as  these. " — Christian  Observer. 


HARE'S  PAROCHIAL  SERMONS. 

Sermons  to  a  Country  Congregation.  By  Augustus  WHIiam  Hare,  A.  M., 
late  Fellow  of  New  College,  and  Rector  of  Alton  Barnes.  One  vol- 
ume, royal  8vo.    $2  25. 

M  Any  one  who  can  be  pleased  with  delicacy  of  thought  expressed  in  the  most  simple 
language — any  one  who  can  feel  the  charm  of  finding  practical  duties  elucidated  and  enforced 
by  apt.  and  varied  illustrations — will  be  delighted  with  this  volume,  which  presents  us  with 
the  workings  of  a  pious  and  highly-gifted  mind.*'— r  Quarterly  Review. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  INSTRUCTED 

£n  the  Ways  of  the  Gospel  and  the  Church,  in  a  series  of  Discourses  de- 
livered at  St.  James'  Church,  Goshen,  New  York.  By  the  Rev.  J.  A. 
Spencer,  A  M.,  late  Rector.    One  elegant  vol.  12mo.    $>1  25. 

This  is  the  first  volume  of  Sermons  by  an  American  Divine  which  has  appeared  for  some 
years.  Their  style  is  characterized  by  clearness,  directness,  and  force — and  thev  combine, 
in  a  happy  degree,  solid  good  sense  and  animation.  The  great  truths  of  the  gospei  are  pre- 
sented in  a  familiar  and  plain  manner;  as  the  church  catholic  has  always  held  them,  and  as 
they  are  held  by  the  reformed  branches  in  England  and  America. 

The  Intioduction  contains  a  biief  view  of  the  origin,  use,  and  advantages  of  the  various 
festivals  and  fasts  of  the  Church  ;  and  to  the  sermons  are  appended  notes  from  the  writings 
of  Hooker,  Barrow,  Taylor,  Peaison,  Chillingworth,  Leslie,  Horsley,  Hobart,  and  other  stand- 
ard divines,  illustrating  and  enforcing  the  doctrines  contained  in  them.  The  book  is  well 
adapted  to  the  present  distracted  state  of  the  public  mind,  to  lead  the  honest  inquirer  to  a 
full  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is-in  Jesus,  and  to  give  a  correct  view  of  the  position  occupied 
by  the  Church. 

The  following  is  the  copy  of  a  letter  of  recommendation,  by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop 
Onderdonk,  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York  :— 

"  Having  great  confidence  in  the  qualifications  of  the  Rev.  Jesse  A.Spencer  for  pastoral 
instruction  in  the  Church  ofGod,  from  a  personal  acquaintance  with  him  as  an  alumnus  of 
the  General  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Piotestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  as  a  Deacon  and 
Presbyter  of  my  Diocese,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  learn,  that  in  his  present  physical  inability 
to  discharge  the  active  duties  of  the  ministry,  he  purposes  publishing  a  seleet  number  of  hra 
sermons.  Nothing  doubting  that  they  will  he  found  instructive  and  edifying  to  those  who 
sincerely  desire  to  grow  in  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  the  gospel,  I  commend  them  to 
the  pationage  of  the  Diocese  ;  and  this  the  more  earnestly,  as  their  publication  may  be  hoped 
to  be  a  source  of  temporal  comfort  and  support  to  a  very  worthy  seivant  of  the  altar,  afflicted, 
et  an  early  period  of  his  ministry,  with  loss  of  bodily  power  to  be  devoted  to  its  functions." 


S 


Valuable  Episcopal  Works  Published  by  D.  Appltton  Sf  Co. 


PALMER'S  TREATISE  ON  THE  CHURCH. 

A  Treatise  on  the  Church  of  Christ.  Designed  chiefly  for  tho  use  of 
Students  in  Theology.  By  the  Rev.  William  Palmer,  M.  A.,  of  Wor- 
cester College,  Oxford.  Edited  with  Notes,  by  the  Right  Rev.  W.  R. 
Wiuttinghain,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  i  11  the 
Diocese  of  Maryland.  Two  vols.  Svo.,  handsomely  printed  on  line  pa- 
per.   $5  00. 

■'  fjie  treatise  of  Mr.  Palmer  is  the  best  exposition  and  vindication  of  Church  Principle* 
that  we  have  ever  read  ;  excelling  contemporaneous  treatises  in  depth  of  learning  and  solid- 
ity of  judgment,  as  much  as  it  excels  older  treatises  on  the  likj  subjects,  in  adaptation  to 
the  wants  and  habits  of  the  age.  Of  its  influence  in  England,  where  it  lias  passed  through 
two  edition.--,  we  have  not  the  means  to  form  an  opinion  ;  but  we*l>elieve  that  in  this  coun- 
try it  has  already,  even  before  its  reprint,  done  more  to  restore  the  sound  tone  of  Catholic 
principles  and  feeling  th  in  any  other  one  work  of  the  age.  The  author's  learning,  and 
powers  of  combination  and  arrangement,  great  as  they  obvious])'  are,  are  less  remarkable 
than  tho  sterling  good  sen<c,  the  vigorous  and  solid  judgment,  which  is  eveiywhere 
manifest  in  the  trea  ise.  and  confers  on  it  its  distinctive  excellence.  The  style  of  the 
author  i<  di«tingni.-*hed  for  dignity  and  masculine  energy,  while  his  tone  is  everywhere  nat- 
ural j  on  proper  occasions,  reverential  ;  an. I  always,  so  far  as  we  remember,  sufficiently  con- 
ciliatory. 

To  our  clergy  and  intelligent  l  iity  who  desire  to  -see  the  Church  justly  discriminated 
from  Romanists  on  tin?  one  hand,  and  dissenting  denominations  on  the  other,  we  earnestly 
commend  Palmer's  Treatise  on  the  Church." — .V.  Y.  Churchman. 

•'This  able,  elaborate,  and  learned  vindication  of  the  cl  iim  of  the  Piotestant  Episcopal 
Church,  to  be  considered  the  true  Catholic  Church,  and  the  exposure  which  is  heie  made  ol 
the  grounds  of  difference  between  it  and  the  lltniish  Churcb,  and  of  the  baseless  pretensions 
of  that  Church  to  be  the  '  one  Holy  Catholic,  and  Aposudic  Church,'  will  assuredly  commend 
these  volumes  to  the  favor  of  Churchmen.  — Jv.  Y  .imrrican. 

ECCLESIASTES  ANGLIC  ANUS; 

BEIXG 

A  TREATISE  ON  PREACHING 

In  a  Series  of  Letters  by  the  Rfv.  W.  Crfst.f.y,  M.  A.  Revised,  with 
Supplementary  Notes,  In  the  fteV.  Benjamin  I.  Haight,  M.  A.,  Rector 
of  All  Saints'  Church,  New  York.  In  one  handsomelv  printed  volume, 
J2mo.    Price  $1  25. 

Advertisrment. — In  preparing  the  American  edition  of  Mr.  GfOf ley's  valuable  Treatise,  a  few 
foot  notes  have  been  iifKJed  by  tin-  editor,  which  are  distinguished  by  brackets.  The  inora 
extended  notes  at  llieeud  have  been  rejected  from  the  best  works' on  the  subject — and  which, 
with  one  or  two  exceptions  are  not  easily  accessible. to  the  American  Student. 

UK  ADS  OF  COXTFXTS. 
Letter  I.  Introductory.  Pm:t  I.  On  the  matter  <>f  a  Sermon.  Letter  If.  The 
end  or  object  of  Preaching.  IN.  The  principal  topics  of  the  Pre  aclior.  IV.  and  V.  Now 
to  gain  the  Confidence  of  the  hoards —First,  lly  showing  goodness  of  diameter.  VI. 
Secondly,  By  showing  a  friendly  disposition  towards  them  VII.  Thirdly,  By  showing 
ability  to  instruct  them.  V1N  On  Arguments- those  derivable  from  Scripture.  TX.  On 
Aigumcnts.  X.  On  ll)ti<tn;t  on.  XI.  How  to  move  the  passions  or  feelings- -First,  By 
indirect  means.  XII.  Secondly,  By  diteet  means.  Part  II.  On  Style.  XIII.  On  Style 
— general  remnik*.  XIV.  Perspicuity,  Foice,  and  El.:  gance.  X\'.  to  XVI II.  On  Style,  as 
dependent  on  the  choice,  number,  and  arrangement  of  words.  XIX.  The  Connectives. 
Part  IN.  On  the  Method  of  Composing.  XX  On  the  Choice  of  a  Subject.  XXI. 
On  C'wectinjr  Materials.  XXII.  What  Materials  and  Topics  should  generally  be  thrown 
aside.  XXNI.  On  the  Method. of  Composing.  XXIV.  Ob  the  Exordium.  XXV.  On  Dis- 
cussion—  Lectures.  XXVI.  On  Discns>ion — Text-Sermons.  XXVII.  On  Discussion-- 
Subject-Sermons  XXVIII.  On  Application.  XXIX  On  the  Conclusion.  Part  IV.  On 
Delivery.  XXX.  Management  of  the  Voice.  XXXI.  Eamestness and  Feeling.  XXXII. 
Gesture  and  Expression.  XXXIII.  Extemporaneous  Preaching.  Supplementary  Xotes. 
A. — Matter  of  Pi-eaehingi  P.  — Sermons  to  be  plain.  C. — Texts.  IX— Unity.'  E. — Exposi 
tory  Preaching.    F. — Written  Mid  Extemporary  Sermons. 


Valuable  Episcopal  Works  Published  by  D.  Applet  on  Sf  Co 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  CHRIST; 

OR 

Mints  Re§pccSing  the  Principles,  Constitution,  and  Ordinance*, 

OF  THE 

CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

BY  FREDERICK   DENISON   MAURICE,   M.  A., 
Chaplain  of  Guy's  Hospital,  Professor  of  English  Literature  and  History.  King's  College 
London.    In  one  elegant  octavo  volume  of  GOO  pages,  uniform  in  style  with  Newman's  Sor- 
mons,  Palmer  on  the  Church,  §c.   &2  50. 
The  following  brief  table  of  contents  illustrates  the  more  important  topics  treated  on  in  this 
very  able  work. 

Part  I.  On  the.  Principles  of  the  Quakers,  and  of  the  different  religions  bodies  which  have 
arisen  since  the  Reformation,  and  of  the  systems  to  which  they  have  given  birth.  Chapter  I. 
— QUAKERISM.  On  the  positive  doctrines  of  the  Quakers — onlinary  objections  to  these 
Doctrines.  The  Quaker  System — Practical  Woi kings  of  the  Quaker  System.  Chapter 
II.— PUKE  PROTESTANTISM.  The  leading  Principles  of  the  Refoimation— Objections 
to  the  Principles  of  the  Reformation  Considered — Protestant  Systems— The  Practical  Work- 
ings of  the  Protestant  Systems.  Chapter  III. —  UNIT  ARIANTSM— its  History  and  Ob- 
ject Illustiated.  Chapter  IV. — On  the  Tendency  of  the  Religious,  Philosophical, 
and  Political  Movements  which  have  taken  place  in  Protestant  Bodies  since 
the  middle  of  the  last  Century.  The  Religious  Movements,  Philosophical  Move- 
ments, Political  Movements. 

Part  II.  Of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  Romish  System.  Chapter  I  —Recapitulation 
Chapter  II. — Indications  ok  a  Spiritual  Constitution.  Chapter  III. — The  Scrip- 
tural view  of  this  Constitution.  Chapter  IV. — Signs  of  a  Spiritual  Society — Baptism — 
The  Creeds — Forms  of  Worship—  The  Eucharist — The  Ministry — the  Scriptures.  Chapter 
V. — Of  the  Relation  of  the  Church  and  National  Bodies  —  Introductory— Objections  of  the 
Quakers— The  Pure  Theocratist— The  Separatist— The  Patrician— The  Modern  Statesman 
— The  Modern  Interpreter  of  Prophecy. 

Part  III.  The  English  Church  and  the.  Systems  which  Divide  it.  Chapter  I. — Intro- 
ductory—How far  this  Subject  is  connected  with  those  previously  Discussed.  Do  the  Signs 
of  a  Universal  and  Spiritual  Constitution  exist  in  England?  Does  the  Universal  Church  in 
England  exist  apart  from  its  Civil  Institutions  in  Union  with  them  ?  What  is  the  form  of 
Character  which  belongs  especially  to  Englishmen?  To  what  depravation  is  it  liable? 
Chapter  II.—  The  English  System:;.  The  Liberal  System — The  Evangelical  System — 
The  High  Church  or  Catholic  System.  Reflections  on  the  Systems,  and  on  our  position 
generally. 

Mr.  Maurice's  work  is  eminently  fittGd  to  engage  the  attention  and  meet  the  wants  of  all 
interested  in  the  several  movements  that  are  now  taking  place  in  the  religious  community  ; 
it  takes  up  the  pretensions  generally  of  the  several  Protestant  denominations  and  of  the  Ro- 
manists, so  as  to  commend  itself  in  the  growing  interest  in  the  controversy  between  the  lat- 
ter and  their  opponents.  The  political  portion  of  the  work  contains  much  that  is  attractive 
to  a  thoughtful  man,  of  any  or  of  no  religious  persuasion,  in  reference  to  the  existing  and 
possible  future  state  of  our  country. 

"  On  the  theory  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  all  should  consult  the  work  of  Mr.  Maurice, 
the  most  philosophical  writer  of  the  day." — Professor  Garbctt's  Hampton  Lectures,  1842. 

PEARSON  ON  THE  CREED. 

An  Exposition  of  the  Creed,  by  John  Pearson,  D.  D.,  late  Bishop  of  Chea- 
ter. With  an  Appendix,  containing  the  principal  Greek  and  Latin 
Creeds.  Revised  and  corrected  by  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Dobson,  M.  A.,  Pe- 
terhouse,  Cambridge.    In  one  handsome  Svo.  volume.    $2  00. 

The.  following  may  be  stated  as  the  advantages  of  this  edition  over  all  others. 

First — Great  care  has  been  taken  to  correct  the  numerous  enors  in  the  references  to  the 
texts  of  Scripture  which  had  crept  in  by  reason  of  the  repeated  editions  through  which  thi9 
admirable  work  has  passed  ;  and  many  references,  as  will  be  seen  on  turning  to  the  Index  of 
Texts,  have  been  added. 

Secondly — The  Quotations  in  the  Notes  have  been  almost  universally  identified  and  the 
icfeience  to  them  adjoined. 

Lastly— Tho  principal  Symhola  or  Creeds,  of  which  the  particular  Articles  have  been 
cited  by  the  Author,  have  been  annexed  ;  and  wherever  the  original  writers  have  given  the 
Symhola  in  a  scattered  and  disjointed  manner,  the  detached  puts  have  been  brought  into  a 
successive  and  connected  point  of  view.  These  have  been  added  in  Chronological  order  in 
the  foim  of  an  Appendix.—  Vide  Editor. 

7 


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CHURCHMAN'S  LIBRARY. 

The  volumes  of  this  Standard  Series  aro  highly  recommended  by  the  Bishops  and  Clergy 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  The  Publishers  beg  to  state,  while  in  so  short  a  time 
this  Library  has  incteased  to  so  many  volumes,  they  are  encouraged  to  make  yet  larger  addi- 
tions, and  earnestly  hope  it  may  receive  all  the  encouragement  it  deserves. 

The  following  works  have  already  appeared  : — 

THE  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

BY  THE  REV.  HENRY  EDWARD  MANNING,  M  A., 

Archdeacon  of  Chichester.  Complete  in  one  elegant  volume,  16mo.  Price 
$1  00. 

CONTENTS. 

Part  I.  The  History  and  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine  of  Catholic  Unitt. 
Chap.  I.  The  Antiquity  of  the  Article,  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Church."  II.  The  Inter- 
pretation of  the  Article,  "The  Holy  Church,"  as  taught  by  uninspired  writers.  III.  The 
Unity  of  the  Church  as  taught  in  Holy  Scripture.  IV.  The  Form  and  Matter  of  Unity. 
Conclusion  to  the  first  part. 

Part  II.  The  Moral  Design  ok  Catholic  Unity.  Chap.  I.  The  Moral  Design  of  the 
Church  as  shown  by  Holy  Scripture.  II.  The  Unity  of  the  Church  a  means  to  restore  the 
true  Knowledge  of  God.  III.  The  Unity  of  the  Church  a  Means  to  restore  Man  to  the 
Image  of  God.  IV.  The  Unity  of  the  Church  a  Probation  of  the  Faith  and  Will  of  Mao. 
Conclusion  to  the  second  part. 

Part  III.  The  Doctrine  ok  Catholic  Unity  applied  to  the  Actual  State  or 
Christendom.  Chap.  I.  The  Unity  of  the  Church  the  only  Revealed  way  of  Salvation.. 
II.  The  Loss  of  Objective  Unity.    III.  The  Loss  of  Subjective  Unity.    General  Conclusion 

"  This  is  a  profound  and  eloquent  treatise  on  a  most  interesting  subject — one  that  has  of 
late  received  peculiar  attention,  and  at  piesent  exeicises  the  minds  of  thoughtful  Christians, 
perhaps  more  than  any  other.  Thousands  are  beginning  to  be  convinced  that  the  only  true 
and  real  bond  of  concoid  is  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  to  inquiie  anxiously  into  tho  mean- 
ing of  that  article  of  the  Creed — "  I  believe  one  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church."  All  such 
will  read  with  avidity  the  admirable  treatise  which  has  been  so  favouiably  received  in 
England,  and  whose  republication  in  such  beautiful  style  entitles  Messrs.  Appleton  to  the 
thanks  of  American  Churchmen.  Archdeacon  Manning  is  well  known  by  o.her  theological 
works:  but  his  Unity  of  the  Church  is  the  most  matured  and  celebrated  production  of  bis 
pen,  and  it  has  placed  him  high  in  the  rank  of  Anglican  divines." — Banner  of  the  Cross. 

THE  DOUBLE  WITNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

By  the  Rev.  Win.  Ingraham  Kip,  author  of  "  Lenten  Fast."  One  ele- 
gant volume,  16mo.,  of  415  pages.    Price  75cts. 

Contents. — I.  Introductory.  Necessity  for  Knowing  the  reasons  why  we  are  Church- 
men II.  Episcopicv  proved  from  Scripture.  III.  Episcopacy  proved  from  History.  IV. 
Antiquity  and  Authority  for  Forms  of  Praver.  V.  History  of  our  Liturgy.  VI.  The 
Church's  View  of  Baptism.  VII.  The  Moral  Training  of  the  Church.  VIII.  Popular  Ob- 
jections to  the  Church.  IX.  The  Church  in  all  ages  the  Keeper  of  the  Truth.  X.  Con- 
clusion.   The  Catholic  Churchman. 

"  This  is  a  sound,  clear,  and  able  production— a  book  much  wanted  for  these  times,  and 
one  that  we  feel  persuaded  will  prove  eminently  useful.  It  is  a  happy  delineation  of  th it 
double  witness  which  the  Church  bears  against  Romanism  and  ultra-Protestantism,  and 
points  out  her  middle  path  as  the  only  one  of  truth  and  safety."— Banner  of  Hie  Cross. 

M  Here  we  have  another  valuable*  and  learned  contribution,  though  in  a  popular  form 
withal,  to  thtological  literature,  and  presented  in  Appleton's  best  manner. 

"  The  Rev  Mr.  Kip  has  embodied  in  this  volume,  and  somewhat  expanded  and  ilJustiated 
with  notes,  a  series  of  lectures  which  he  delivered  to  his  congregation  in  Albany,  last 
winter,  on  '  The  Distinctive  Principles  of  the  Church.'  These  lectures,  as  we  learn  from  the 
preface,  were  delivered  '  at  a  season  of  strange  excitement  among  different  denominations,' 
and  designed  as  a  safeguaul  to  his  own  people  against  the  injurious  influence  ..>f  such  ex- 
citement."— JV.  Y.  American.  . 

"  This  volume  deserves  a  conspicuous  place  among  the  numerous  publications  which  tb* 
discussion  of  Church  Principles  has  called  out.  The  author  has  a  considerable  power  of 
illustration,  and  has  presented  some  points  in  a  very  striking  light.  His  Lectures  on  the 
Antiquities  and  Forms  of  Prayer,  and  the  History  of  our  Liturgy,  aie  exceedingly  valuable  .*» 
Christian  Witness  and  Advocate. 

8 


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CHURCHMAN'S  LIBRARY. — Continued. 

STfje  (ftfjurcfjman's  (ftompamon  tu  tfje  (ftloset : 

OR,  A  COMPLETE 

MANUAL  OF  PRIVATE  DEVOTIONS: 

Collected  from  the  writings  of  Archbishop  Laud,  Bishop  Andrews,  Bishop 
Ken,  Dr.  Hickes,  Mr.  Kettlewell,  Mr.  Spinckes,  and  other  eminent 
old  English  divines.  With  a  Preface  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spinckes. 
Edited  by  Francis  E.  Paget,  M.  A.    One  elegant  volume,  16mo.    $1  00 

The  pious  leader  will  require  no  more  recommendation  of  this  volume  than  that  which  he 
will  find  in  its  title-page.  A  Manual  of  Prayers  compiled  from  the  devotional  writings  of 
Laud  and  Andrews,  Ken  and  Hickes,  Kettlewell  and  Spinckes,  cannot  be  otherwise  than 
acceptable  to  all  who  love  those  principles  which  they  unanimously  taught,  and  for  the 
maintaining  of  which,  (with  the  exception  of  the  good  Bishop  of  Wintor,  whose  lot  was  cast 
in  tranquil  times,)  they  suffered  according  to  the  measure  which  God  required  of  each  :  to  all 
who  would  fain  follow  them  in  the  paths  of  self-denial,  spiritual-mindedness.  meekness,  and 
obedience.  And  that  this  book  has  been  to  past  generations  what  it  is  hoped  it  may  like- 
wise be  to  our  own,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  it  is  one  of  the  few  of  the  devotional  works 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  which  continued  to  be  in  constant  demand  during  the  eighteenth. 
Its  value  was  appreciated,  and  it  continued  to  be  reprinted  from  time  to  time  to  the  middle 
of  the  last  century  ;  and  it  is  presented  to  the  public  once  more,  with  the  anxious  desire 
that  as  it  found  favour  to  the  last,  while  Church  principles  were  declining,  so  it  may  prove 
acceptable  to  the  many,  who  (blessed  be  God)  seem  now  to  be  zealously  and  faithfully  seek- 
ing their  way  back  to  the  "old  paths''  from  which  we  have  wandered.— Editor's  Preface. 


THE    PRACTICAL  CHRISTIAN: 

Or,  the  Devout  Penitent ;  a  Book  of  Devotion,  containing  the  Whole 
Dutv  of  a  Christian  in  all  occasions  and  necessities,  fitted  to  the  main 
use  "of  a  holy  life,  by  R.  Sherlock,  D.  D. ;  with  a  Life  of  the  Author,  by 
the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  WTilson,  Author  of  "  Sacra  Privata,"  &c.  One 
elegant  volume,  16mo.    $1  00. 

"The  Practical  Christian  now  submitted  to  the  reader,  from  the  seventh  English  edition, 
is  by  fai  the  most  important  of  all  Dr.  Sherlock's  works.  It  was  a  work  of  gradual  growth 
and  progressive  enlargement,  and  we  have  his  biographer's  testimony  to  the  fact,  that  he 
made  it  the  model  of  his  own  devotions — '  strictly  observing  himself  what  he  so  earnestly 

recommended  to  others.'  The  following  devotions,  living  impressions,  as  it  were,  of  the 

living  mould— bring  the  tutor  of  Bishop  Wilson  again  before  us,  and  it  may  be  devoutly  hoped 
that  as  their  author,  when  living,  succeeded  in  forming  one  of  the  noblest  characters  in  the 
Church's  Modern  Calendar,  so  now,  though  absent  from  us  in  body,  this  his  work,  instinct  as 
it  everywhere  is  with  his  own  saintly  spirit,  may  tend  to  produce  many  more  such  chaiacters 
to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  edification  of  his  Holy  Church. — Editor's  Preface. 

"  Considered  as  a  manual  of  private  devotion,  and  a  mean?  of  practical  preparation  for 
the  Holy  Communion  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  this  book  is  among  the  best,  if  not 
the  best,  ever  commended  to  the  members  of  our  Church." — The  Churchman. 

OF  THE   IMITATION  OF  CHRIST: 

Four  books  by  Thomas  A  Kempis.    One  elegantly  printed  volume,  16mo 

"  The  author  of  this  invaluable  work  was  born  about  the  year  1380,  and  has  always  been 
honoured  by  the  Church  for  his  eminent  sanctity.  Of  the  many  piou3  works  composed  by 
him,  his  1  Imitation  of  Christ '  (being  collections  of  his  devotional  thoughts  and  meditations 
on  important  practical  subjects,  together  with  a  separate  treatise  on  the  Holy  Communion) 
h  :ne  most  celebrated,  and  has  ever  been  admired  and  valued  by  devout  Christians  of  every 
name.  It  has  passed  through  numerous  editions  and  translations,  the  first  of  which  into 
English  is  said  to  have  been  made  by  the  illustrious  Lady  Margaret,  mother  of  King  Henry 
VII.  Messrs.  Appleton's  very  beautiful  edition  is  a  reprint  from  the  last  English,  the  trans- 
lation of  which  was  chiefly  copied  from  one  printed  at  London  in  1677.  It  deserves  to  be  a 
companion  of  the  good  Bishop  Wilson's  Sacra  Privata."— Banner  of  the  Cross. 


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CHURCHMAN'S  LIBRARY. — Continued. 

LEARN  TO  LIVE. 

Disce  Vivcre — Learn  to  Live.  WJigrejp  is  shown  that  the  Life  of  Christ 
is  and  ought  to  he  an  express  pattern  for  imitation  unto  the  life  of  a 
Christian.  By  Christopher  Sutton,  1).  D.  One  elegant  volume,  IGrao. 
Price  $1  00 

"The  above  work  was  written  liy  its  author  after  his  'Disco  Mori,'  and  befoie  hie 
Godly  Meditations  on  the  Lord's  Supper  ;'  and  it  may  lie  said  to  come  between  tliem  also 
m  respoct  to  the  depth  and  s  Tioumess  of  to  io  in  wh  cli  it  is  written.  The  unusually  fer- 
vent Laagu  ig£  of  his  last  woik,  tin  Meditations,  w  as  suggested  by  its  particularly  sacred  sub- 
ject; the  '  Disce  Mori,'  on  the  other  hand,  which  was  his  first,  treating  on  a  auhject  which 
belongs  to  n  itura]  as  well  as  revealed  religion,  admitted  of  reflections  derived  from  a  vuriety 
of  sources,  besides  those  wh.cb  are  especially  of  a  Christian  or  gospel  cluracter.  In  the 
work  which  came  next,  the  '  Disce  Vivere.'  be  moulded  liis  materials,  aftoi  the  manner 
of  a  Kcmpis.  into  un  '  fmitatio  Christ)  ;;  each  chapter  inculcating  some  duty,  upon  the 
pattern  of  Him  who  gave  Himself  to  bo  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  all  perfection—  Editor's 
Preface. 

LEARN  TO  DIE. 

Disce  Mcri — Learn  to  Die.  A  Religious  Discourse,  moving  every  Chris- 
tian man  to  enter  into  a  serious  Remembrance  of  his  End.  By  Chris- 
topher Sutton,  D.  J).,  hie  Prebend  of  Westminster.  1  vol.  Ibmo.,  ele- 
gantly ornamented.    9,1  00 

"  Of  the  throe  works  of  this  excellent  author  lately  reprinted  in  England,  the  '  Disc? 
Mori  '  is,  in  our  judgment,  decidedly  th  s  bfsl  It  was  the  favourite  book  of  the  Bishop  of 
Joly,  who  (the  touching  incident  cannot  he  forgotten)  died  with  it  in  his  hands.  It  was  this 
Ret,  we  believe,  which  first  recr.lled  the  book  from  the  oblivion  into  which  it  had  fallen  ; 
and  our  readers  may  remember,  that  shortly  after  its  republication  in  England  we  urged  an 
American  reprint,  on  the  ground  that  it  win  a  hook  which  would  prove  universally  acceptable 
to  the  Church,  Such  is  siiii  our  opinion  ;  we  do  not  believe  that  a  single  journal  or  clergy- 
man in  the  Church  will  be  found  in  say'  a  word  in  its  disparagement  ;  but  that,  on  the  con- 
trary, all  will  unite  in  commending  it  as  one  of  the  very  best  of  our  practical  woiks,  equally 
devotional  ami  almost  equally  rich  with  the  similar  work  of  Taylor,  and  free  from  those 
features  with  which  Taylor  startle*  such  weak  minds  as  have  a  morbid  dread  of  Romanism. 
Our  columns  h  ive  be. mi,  and  now  that  the  work  is  repiinted,  will  again  be.  enriched  with 
extracts  which  will  make  the  '  Disce  Mori '  favourably  known  to  our  readers. "--Churchman. 

MEDITATIONS  ON  THE  SACRAMENT. 

Godly  Meditations  upon  the  most  Holy  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
By  Christopher  Sutton,  D.  D.,  late  Prebend  of  Westminster.  1vol. 
royal  16mo.,  elegantly  ornamented.    $1  00. 

"  We  announced  m  our  last  number  the  republication  in  this  country  of  Sutton's  1  Medi- 
tations on  the  Lord's  Supper,'  and  having  since  read  the  work,  are  prepared  to  recommend  it 
warmly  and  without  qualification  to  the  perusal  of  our  readers.  It  is  purely  practical ;  the 
doctrine  of  the  eueharUt  being  touched  upon  only  in  so  far  as  was  necessary  to  guard  against 
error.  Its  standard  of  piety  is  very  high,  and  the  helps  which  it  affords  to  a  devout  partici- 
pation o:"  the  holy  sa^nment  of  which  it  treats,  should  make  it  the  inseparable  rompanion 
of  every  communicant.  We  know  indeed  of  no  woik  on  the  subject  that  can  in  all  respects 
he  compared  with  it ;  and  for  it«  agency  in  promoting  that  advancement  in  holiness  alter 
which  every  Christian  should  stiive,  have  no  hesitation  in  classing  it  witii  the  Treatise  on 
'  Holy  Living  and  Dyinu','  of  Bishop  Taylor,  and  the  '  Sacra  Brivata,'  of  Bishop  Wilson. 
The  period  at  which  the  boo!;  was  written  will  account  for  and  excuse  what  in  the  present 
age  would  be  regarded  as  defects  of  style;  but  these  are  fewer  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, and  are  soon  lost  si_'ht  of  in  the  contemplation  of  the  many  and  great  excellencies 
with  which  it  abounds.  The  publishers  have  done  good  service  to  the  country  in  the  publi- 
cation of  this  work,  which  is  a  beaiuii'.tl  reprint  of  the  Oxford  edition,  and  we  are  glad  to 
learn  that  it  will  be  speedily  followed  by  the  '  Disce  Vivere  '  and  '  Disce  Mori '  of  the  same 
author  — Banner  vfthc  Cru.>* 

10 


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CHURCHMAN'S  LIBRARY. — Continued. 

THE  RECTORY  OF  VALEHEAD: 

OR  THE  RECORDS   OF  A  HOLY  HOME. 
BY  THE  REV.  R.  W.  EVANS. 

From  the  Twelfth  English  edition.    One  elegantly  printed  volume,  16mo. 

75  cents. 

u  Universally  and  cordially  do  we  recommend  this  delightful  volume.  We  believe  no 
person  could  read  this  work  and  not  be  the  better  for  its  pious  and  touching  lessons.  It  is  a 
page  taken  from  the  book  of  life,  and  eloquent  with  all  the  instruction  of  an  excellent  pat- 
tern ;  it  is  a  commentary  on  the  affectionate  warning,  '  Remember  thy  Creator  in  the  days 
of  thy  youth.'  We  have  not  for  some  time  seen  a  work  we  could  so  deservedly  praise,  or 
so  conscientiously  recommend." — Literary  Gazette. 

"  This  work  illustrates  with  great  simplicity  and  beauty  and  variety,  the  privileges,  bless- 
ings, and  influences  of  the  Christian  home.  It  is  rich  in  elegant  description,  in  fine  moral 
sentiment,  and  withal  is  happily  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  genuine  Chiistianity.  In  wish- 
ing it  an  extensive  circulation,  we  are  sure  that  we  are  only  wishing  well  to  the  cause  of 
domestic  piety  and  order  and  happiness. — Albany  Advertiser. 


PORTRAIT  OF  A  CHURCHMAN. 

BY  THE  REV.  W.  GRESLEY,  A.  M 

From  the  Seventh  English  edition.    One  elegant  volume,  16mo.  75  cents. 

"  The  present  volume  is  an  attempt  to  paint  the  feelings,  habits  of  thought,  and  mode  of 
action  which  naturally  flow  from  a  sincere  attachment  to  the  system  of-belief  and  discipline 
adopted  in  our  Church. 

"  Church  principles  have  been  so  much  discussed  of  late,  that  I  would  have  willingly 
passed  over  that  part  of  the  subject ;  but  daily  experience  proves  that  they  are  still  very 
impeifectly  understood,  or  little  considered,  by  the  mass  of  those  who  call  themselvei 
Churchmen.  I  have  therefore  devoted  some  chapters  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  work  to  a 
brief,  though  not  careless  or  hasty,  discussion  of  the  principles  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
But  the  main  pait  of  the  volume  is  occupied  upon  the  illustration  of  the  practical  working  of 
those  principles  when  sincerely  received,  setting  forth  their  value  in  the  commerce  of  daily  life, 
and  how  surely  they  conduct  those  who  embrace  them  in  the  safe  and  quiet  path  of  holy 
Me."— Author's  Preface. 


LYRA  APOSTOLICA. 

From  the  Fifth  English  edition   One  elegantly  printed  volume  75  cents. 

"  Here  is  a  volume  of  poetry  on  grave  subjects  ;  where  the  taste,  the  sensibilities,  and 
the  judgment,  all  are  interested.  Some  of  its  topics  are  purely  imaginative,  but  the  large 
majority  are  on  matteis  to  which  every  thoughtful  mind  often  recurs  ;  and  by  the  consider- 
ation of  which  the  heart  and  conscience  are  benefited.  In  this  elegant  volume,  there  are 
forty-five  sections,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-nine  Lyric  poems,  all  short,  and  many  of 
them  sweet."— JV.  Y.  American- 

"  This  is  a  collection  of  Lyrical  Odes,  which  originally  were  published  in  the  British  Ma- 
gazine ;  and  were  subsequently  combined  in  a  handsome  volume.  Tbey  are  all  upon  grave 
topics,  and  arranged  under  forty-five  different  heads  ;  and  their  poetical  merits  are  commen- 
surate with  the  serious  dignity  of  the  subjects.  It  cannot  be  expected  that  one  hundred  and  se- 
venty-nine different  poems,  written  by  an  association  of  authors,  can  be  equal  and  uniform  in 
poetic  ability — nevertheless,  they  all  exhibit  a  high  degree  of  merit.  Some  of  the  Odes  are  of  a 
very  superior  order,  and  contain  such  pithy  instruction  that  the  wotk  is  just  fit  for  the  pock- 
et of  every  lover  of  Christian  Song,  on  account  of  the  brevity  of  almost  all  the  articles 
Johnson  once  stated  that  there  could  not  possibly  be  any  good  poetry  on  sacred  subjects.  If 
the  volumes  of  Milton,  and  Young,  and  Cowper,  and  Montgomery,  had  not  shown  the  error 
of  his  decision,  the  Lyra  Apostolica  would  prove  that  his  opinion  was  contrary  to  fact.  The 
beauty  of  the  work  accords  with  its  melodious  chants." — JV.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 


Valuable  Episcopal  Works  Published  by  D.  Appleton  Co. 


CHURCHMAN'S  LIBRARY.— Continued. 

BISHOP  JEREMY  TAYLOR  ON  EPISCOPACY. 

The  Sacred  Order  and  Offices  of  Episcopacy  asserted  and  maintained  , 
to  which  is  added,  Clerus  Domini  :  a  Discourse  on  the  Office  Ministeri- 
al ;  by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor,  D.  D.  One  elegant  vol- 
ume, 16mo.    Price  $1  00. 

The  reprint  iQ  a  portable  form  of  this  Eminent  Divine's  masterly  Defence  of  Episco- 
pucy  cannot  fa'l  of  being  welcomed  by  every  Churchman. 

'With  the  imagination  of  a  Poet,  and  the  fervor  of  an  Apostle,  Jeremy  Taylor  cannot  he 
republished  in  any  shape  that  he  will  not  have  readers.  More  especially,  just  now  will  this 
treatise  of  his  be  read,  when,  by  feebler  hands  and  far  less  well  furnished  minds,  attempts 
are  making  to  depreciate  that  sacred  order  and  those  sacred  offices  which  are  here  with  tri 
umphant  eloquence  maintained. 

"  The  publishers  have  presented  this  jewel  in  a  fitting  casket." — JV.  Y.  American,  Feb. 
17,  1844 

"  Jeremy  Taylor  was  not  simply  an  ornament  to  the  English  Church,  but  in  his  Christian 
walk  and  conversation  an  example  to  Christians  of  all  denominations.  His  style  has  in  it  all 
the  elements  of  eloquence,  earnestness  of  purpose,  comprehensiveness  of  thought,  and  de- 
votional fervor.  The  work  under  notice  is  particularly  adapted  to  the  study  of  such  Epis- 
copalians as  would  understand  the  grounds  of  their  recognized  orders. —  U.  S.  Saturday 
Post. 

"  On  the  merit  of  Bishop  Taylor  it  would-be  absurd  and  useless  to  expatiate.  His  piety 
has  been  the  subject  and  admiration,  and  his  eloquence  the  theme  of  praise,  to  our  best  writ- 
ers. " — British  Critic. 


THE  GOLDEN  GROVE: 

A  choice  Manual,  containing  what  is  to  be  believed,  practised,  and  de- 
sired, or  prayed  for ;  the  prayers  being  fitted  for  the  several  days  of  the 
week .  To  which  is  added,  a  Guide  for  the  Penitent,  or  a  Model  drawn 
up  for  the  help  of  devout  souls  wounded  with  sin.  Also,  Festival 
Hymns,  &c.  By  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor.  One  vol. 
16mo.   $0  50. 

"The  name  of  Jeremy  Taylor  will  always  be  a  sufficient  passport  to  any  work  on  whoso 
title  page  it  appears.  Of  no  writer  of  his  period,  or  indeed  of  any  other  period,  could  it  be 
more  truly  said,  that  he  has  given  '  thoughts  that  breathe  in  words  that  burn.'  The  present 
little  work  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  among  the  choicest  of  his  productions.  While  it  is 
designed  to  be  a  guide  to  devotion,  it  breathes  much  of  the  spirit  of  devotion,  and  abounds 
in  lessons  of  deep  practical  wisdom.  Its  author  was  an  Episcopalian,  and  Episcopalians  may 
well  be  proud  of  him  ;  but  his  character  and  writings  can  no  more  be  the  property  of  one  de- 
nomination than  the  air  or  the  light,  or  any  other  of  God's  universal  blessings,  to  the  world.*' 
— Albany  Advertiser 

SACRA  PRIVATA. 

The  Private  Meditations,  Devotions,  and  Prayers  of  the  Right  Rev.  T. 
Wilson,  D.  D.,  Lord  Bishop  of  Soder  and  Man.  First  complete  edi- 
tion. One  vol.  royal  16mo.,  elegantly  ornamented.    $1  00. 

"The  Messis.  Appleton  have  brought  out,  in  elegant  style,  Wilson's  4  Sacra  Privala' 
entire.  The  reprint  is  an  honour  to  the  American  progs.  The  work  itseJf  is,  perhaps,  on  the 
whole,  the  best  devotional  treatise  in  the  language,  and  it  now  appears  in  a  dress  worthy  of 
its  character.  It  has  never  before  in  this  country  been  printed  entire.  We  shall  say  more 
another  time,  but  for  the  present  will  only  urge  upon  every  reader,  from  motives  of  duty  and 
interest,  foi  private  benefit  and  public  good,  to  buy  tlie  book.  Buy  good  books,  shun  the  doubt- 
ful, and  burn  the  bad."—  The  Churchman. 

A  neat  Miniature  Edition,  abridged  for  popular  use,  is  also  published. 
Price  31  1-4  cents. 

12 


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CHURCHMAN'S  LIBRARY— Continued. 

THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  CHURCH; 

Or,  Christian  History  of  England  in  early  British,  Saxon,  and  Norman 
Times.  By  the  Rev.  Edward  Churton,  M.  A.  With  a  Preface,  by 
the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Ives.  One  vol.  l6mo.  elegantly  ornamented 
$1  00. 

"  The  following  delightful  pages  place  before  us  some  of  the  ohoicest  examples — both 
clerical  and  lay— of  the  true  Christian  spirit  in  the  EARLY  ENGLISH  CHURCH.  In 
tiuth,  these  pages  are  crowded  with  weighty  lessons.  Heie  our  laity  will  find  that  these  no- 
ble foundations  of  charity  in  the  mother  country — the  existence  of  which  they  have  been 
accustomed  to  ascribe  to  the  credulity  of  ignorance,  01  the  fears  of  superstition,  successfully 
practised  upon  by  the  arts' of  priests,  had  a  higher  and  holier  origin — that  they  sprung  into 
boing  under  the  warm  impulses  of  that  divine  and  expansive  benevolence  of  which  the  corf- 
straining  power  of  Christ's  love  mado  his  early  followers  such  large  partakers  at  the  period 
while  yet  Christian  men  fully  recognized  their  high  vocations,  as  '  stewards  of  the  manifold 
gifts  of  God'— lived  under  the  abiding  conviction,  that  we  are  not  our  own,  but  that, 
'  bought  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,'  we  are  'bound  to  glorify  him  in  our  bodies  and 
our  spirits  which  are  his.'  Here,  too,  our  clergy  may  learn  a  lesson  of  true  self-devotion  to 
their  Master—  may  see,  strikingly  and  beautifully  illustrated,  that  love  for  Christ,  and  that 
zeal  for  his.  kingdom,  which  alone  can  bear  us  tranquilly  and  successfully  through  the  la- 
bours and  trials  of  the  holy  ministry — may  see  the  operation  of  the  true  missionary  spirit — 
the  spirit  of  endurance  and  self-sacrifice,  which  shrinks  from  no  obstacles  when  the  salva- 
tion Of  sinners  is  to  be  achieved  under  the  command  and  the  promise  of  the  Almighty  Goo! — 
may  see,  in  short,  an' impressive  and  instructive  exemplification  of  that  child-like  submission 
to  God,  that  pure  and  simple  trust  in  him,  which,  at  his  bidding,  performs  duty,  and  leaves 
the  result  to  his  providence  and  grace. 

u  But,  to  read  these  pages  with  profit,  we  must  pray  to  God  for  a  portion  of  that  spirit 
which  indited  them,  and  which  so  manifestly  control  the  events  which  they  record — must 
read  them  with  a  spiritual  eye  ;  with  an  eye  intent  upon  discovering,  not  that  which  may 
help  to  sustain  some  preconceived  notion,  but  that  which,  prompted  by  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
and  accomplished  through  the  power  of  his  saving  truth,  exhibits  to  us  some  great  principle 
of  Christian  action,  and  some  powerful  motive  to  go  and  do  likewise." — Fide  Preface. 

TALES  OF  THE  VILLAGE ; 

In  which  the  Principles  of  the  Romanist,  Churchman,  Dissenter,  and  In- 
fidel are  contrasted.  By  the  Rev.  Francis  E.  Pagkt,  M.  A.  In  three 
elegant  vols.  ISmo.    $1  75. 

"These  three  handsome  little  volumes  constitute  series  of  Tales,  purporting  to  be  the 
record  kept  by  a  country  clergyman,  of  scenes  passing  under  his  own  view,  in  the  discharge 
of  his  parochial  duties.  They  have  had  great  success  in  England,  as,  we  doubt  not,  this  first 
American  edition  of  them  will  have  here. 

"  They  are  well  contrived  s  tales  to  interest  the  reader,  and  skilfully  used  as  vehicles 
for  setting  forth  the  sound  doctrines  of  the  Church,  which,  while  'protesting  against  Rome, 
remains  Catholic,  and  while  protesting  against  Geneva,  is  Reformed  ;  whose  hand  is  against 
all  error,  and  all  error  against  it.' 

"  The  first  series  or  volume,  presents  a  popular  view  of  the  contrast  in  opinions  and 
modes  of  thought  between  Churchmen  and  Romanists  ;  the  second  sets  forth  Church  princi- 
ples, as  opposed  to  what,  in  England,  is  termed  Dissent ;  and  the  third  places  in  contrast  the 
character  of  the  Churchman  and  the  Infidel. 

"  At  any  time  these  volumes  would  be  valuable,  especially  to  the  young.  At  present, 
when  men's  minds  are  much  turned  to  such  subjects,  they  cannot  fail  of  being  eagerly 
sought  for." — New- York  American. 

"  The  first,  second,  and  third  series,  in  as  many  small  volumes,  of  these  popular  tales,  are 
now  offered  to  the  American  public.  At  present,  we  have  only  room  to  commend  them,  and 
wo  do  it  most  heartily,  to  all  who  desire  edification  combined  with  amusement." — The 
Churchman. 

THE  CHRISTMAS  BELLS; 

A  Tale  of  Holy  Tide,  and  other  Poems.  By  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Bnowt?,  au~ 
thor  of  "  Constance,"  "Virginia,"  &c.  One  vol.  royal  16mo.,  elegantly 
ornamented.    $0  75. 

*  Many  of  the  smaller  pieces  in  this  volume  have  appeared  from  time  to  timo  in  various 
journals  and  magazines,  and  have  been  received  with  unqualified  favour.  The  lea.ing  poem 
was  written  for  the  most  pait  during  the  season  whose  enjoyments  and  happy  inti'  ences  it 
is  designed  to  commemorate.  The  plan'  of  it  was  suggested  by  the  perusal  of  Washington 
Irviog's  delightful  Essays  on  the  Christmas  season,  in  *Jie  Sketch  Book." — Preface. 

13 


Valuable  Episcopal  Works  Published  bp  D.  Appltion  Co. 


A  MANUAL  FOR  COMMUNICANTS; 

Or,  the  Order  for  A  d  ministering  the  Holy  Communion  ;  conveniently 
arranged  with  Meditations  and  Prayers  from  Old  English  Divineg, 
being  the  Eucharistica  of  Samuel  Wilherforcc,  M.  A.,  Archdeacon  of 
Surry,  (adapted  to  the  Anr;ric:m  service.)  Convenient  size  for  the 
pocket.  cents;  gilt  leaves,  50  cents. 

11  The  order  of  this  work  is  as  follows  :  -First.  "  The  Exhortation  ;"  comprising  the  two 
exhortations  which  are  inserted  in  tlie  Communion  Office;  then  the  "  Ante-Communion  •" 
next,  "  The  Canon  ol  the  Holy  Con.ii'.union,"  beginning  with  the  OfFertoiy  and  endiri"  with 
the  Form  coadministering  the  elements  ;  and  lastly,  the  Post -Communion.  This  part  ofthfl 
woik  is  the  Communion  Office  as  COttta  ned  in  the  Prayer  Hook,  slightly  altered  in  its 
arrangement,  and  accompanied  with  a  few  short  devotional  meditations  in  the  margin.  After 
this  is  ihe  Introduction  by  Archdeacon  Wiliierfoiee  chiefly  On  the  imncnancc  of  attendance 
at  the  lord's  Tabl.i,  and  the  carsesof  the  present  neglect  of  the  privilege. 

"We  have  next  a  brief  iiotire  oi  the  writer  from  Whose  winks  nre  taken  the  extracts 
which  form  the  body  of  the  volume.  These  are  Colet,  Ctranmcr.  Jewel,  Hooker,  Andrew.*. 
Put  ton,  Laud,  Half,  Hammond,  Taylor.  Leiyrhfon,  Rre\irit,  Patrick;  Addison,  Ken,  Sparrow, 
He  vc  ridge,  Hicks,  Comber,  Kcuhucjl,  \\  Msoil.  Slid  Potter:  whose  names  are  arranged  ill 
chronological  order.  With  a  mention  in  'ew  lines  of  their  lives  and  characters.  The  remainder 
of  the  work  is  divided  into  three  fruits  ;  of  which  the  first  ror.si  ts  of  Meditations  on  the 
Holy  Communion  ;  ihe  second  of  Prayers  before  and  aft^r  Communion  ;  to  which  are  added, 
Bishop  Wil  o;rs  Meditations  on  Select  Passages,  and  Hishop  Pali b-k's Tiayer  for  one  who 
cannot  publicly  communicate;  and  the  third  of  select  passages  explanatory  of  the  Holv 
Sacrament  and  the  benefits  of  its  worthy  r-  caption. 

11  'These  meditations,  piayers  and  exposition?,  are  given  in  the  very  words  of  the  illus- 
trious divines  above  mentioned,  maityts,  confessors.  i-nd  doetots  of  the  Church;  and  they 
fpnu  altogether  such  a  body  of  instructive  matter  as  is  nowhere  else  to  be  found  in  the  same 
compass.  'I  hough  collected  from  various  authors,  the  whole  is  pervaded  by  a  unity  of  spirit 
and  purpose;  and  we  most,  earnestly  (minuend  the  woik  as  better  fitted  than  any  other 
which  we  know,  to  subserve  the  ends  of  sound  edification  and  fervent  and  substantial  devo- 
tion. The  American  reprint  has  been  edited  by  a  deacon  of  great  promise  in  the  Church, 
and  is  appropriate1}-  dedicated  to  the  Bishop  of  this  diocer-e." — Churchman. 

THE  PRIMITIVE  DOCTRINE  OF  ELECTION: 

Or,  an  Historical  Inquiry  into  the  Ideality  and  Causation  of  Scriptural 
Election,  ns  received  and  maintained  in  the  primitive  Church  of  Christ. 
By  George  Stanley  Faber,  B.  1).,  author  <>f  "  Difficulties  of  Roman- 
ism," "  Difficulties  of  IniMciiry,"  &c.  Complete  in  one  volume, 
octavo.    $1  75. 

"  .Mr.  Fuber  verifies  his  opinion  by  demonstialion.  We  cannot  pay  a  higher  respect  to 
his  work  than  by  recommending  it  to  all.  ' — Chnr.h  oj  England  Quarterly  Review. 

LETTERS  TO  MY  GODCHILD. 

BY  THE  REV.  L  SWAIIT,  A.  M. 

One  elegant  miniature  volume,    ('rice   37  1-2  cents. 

'•  The  design  of  this  little  work — dedicated  by  permission  to  Hi  hop  Ondordonk,  and 
commended  by  Bitmap  L>elancey.  toubom  while  in  preparation  the  .MS.,  was  submitted— is  to 
enable  those  whom  distance  or  othei  circumstances  prevent  from  adequately  discharging 
their  Bponsoiial  duties,  to  place  in  the  hands  of  their  godchildren  a  treatise  which  shall 
elucidate  the  relations  between  tlie  sponsor  and  bis  godchild,  and  supply,  as  far  as  may  be, 
the  want  of  immediate  and  constant  personal  supervision. 

The  commendation  of  this  Diocesan  is  an  a  ll-sufticicnt  introduction  of  Mr.  Swart's  use- 
ful little  book. "-..V.  Y.  American. 

OGILBY  ON   LAY  BAPTISM. 

Art  Outline  on  the  Argument  against  the  validity  of  Lay-Baptism.  By 
the  Rev.  John  D.  Ogilby,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History. 
One  volume,  12mo.    $0  75. 

"  We  have  been  favoured  with  a  copy  of  the  above  work.  From  a  cursory  inspection  a? 
it,  wo  take  it  to  be  a  thorough,  fearless,  and  able  discussion  of  the  subject  which  it  proposes 
—  aiming  less  to  excite  inquiry,  than  to  satisfy  by  learned  and  ingenious  argument  inquiries 
alreftdv  excited."  Churchman. 

14 


Valuable  Episcopal  Works  Published  by  D.  Applet  on  4*  Co 


MAGEE  ON  ATONEMENT   AND  SACRIFICE. 

Discourses  and  Dissertations  on  the  Scriptural  Doctrines  of  Atonement 
and  Sacrifice,  and  on  the  Principal  Arguments  advanced,  and  the 
Mode  of  Reasoning  employed,  by  the  Opponents  of  those  Doctrines,  as 
held  by  the  Established  Church.  By  the  late  most  Rev.  William 
AI'Gfe,  D.  D.,  Archbishop  of  Dublin.  Two  vols,  roval  8vo.  beauti 
fully  printed.    $5  00. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  ablest  critical  and  polemical  works  of  modern  timed  Archbishop 
Magee  is  truly  a  malcus  heretirolum.  He  is  an  excellent  scholar,  an  acute  reasoner,  and  is 
possessed  of  a  most  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  wide  field  of  argument  to  which  his 
volumes  are  devoted — the  profound  Biblical  information  on  a  variety  of  topics  which  the 
Archbishop  brings  forward,  must  endear  his  name  to  all  lovers  of  Christianity." — Orme. 


tracts  on  (S^rtsttan  Boctnuc  anU  practice* 

Under  this  general  head  it  is  proposed  to  publish  a  series  of  Catechetical 
Works,  illustrating  the  Doctrine,  Discipline,  and  Practice  of  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States.  The  following  commence  the 
Series  : 

A  HELP  TO  CATECHISING; 

FOR  THE  USE  OF 

CLERGYMEN,  SCHOOLS,  AND  PRIVATE  FAMILIES. 
BY  JAMES  BEAVEN,  D.  D. 
Professor  of  Theology  at  King's  College,  Toronto. 
Revised  and  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  toe 
United  States. 
BY  HENRY  ANTIION,  D.  D. 
Rector  of  St.  Mark's  Church,  New- York. 
Price — single  copies,  6  1-4  cents — 50  copies,  $2  50 — 100  copies,  $4  00. 

Numerous  testimonies  have  been  received  of  the  usefulness  of  this  Catechism,  and  the 
very  moderate  price  affixed  leads  the  publishers  to  hope  for  it  a  very  extensive  circulation. 
Its  sale  has  already  exceeded  12,000  copies. 

CATECHISMS  ON  THE  HOMILIES  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

I.  On  the  Miseries  of  Mankind.     II.  Of  the  Nativity  of  Christ.  III. 

Of  the  Passion  of  Christ.    IV.  Of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ. 
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16 


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Published  by  V.  Applcton  Co. 

THE  X.IPE   AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

THOMAS  ARNOLD,'  D.  D., 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  "  HISTORY  OP  ROME,"  etc.,  etc. 
By  REV.  A.  P.  STANLEY,  A.M. 
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D.  Appleton  Sf  Co.  have  recently  published, 

INCIDENTS  OF  SOCIAL  LIFE 

AMID  THE  EUROPEAN  ALPS. 
Translated  from  the  German  of 

I.   HETNRICH  ZSCHOKKE, 

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